Irregular Commitments
by KE12
Summary: What happens when a battle hardened warrior wakes up and is plunged deep into a family life? This story follows one mans struggles as he attempts to come to terms with his new reality. Rated T for some chorse langue used.
1. Chapter 1

"Mrs T'soni?" Liara turned to the doctor hoping that this was the news she had been longing to here.

"Yes?" is her impatient reply.

"We have successfully resurrected the body, all what is left to do is repair the scarred skin tissue." this small comment nearly made the Asari faint, a reality she once hoped for and long ago dashed could now become a reality.

"Excellent, place the body in room 15A as planned, do not repair the scarred skin tissue, he will not appreciate it." The doctor nods his head to signal his comprehension of the order and makes a silent retreat allowing Liara to turn her attention back to her daughter. "There is one or two things I haven't yet told you about your farther." Liara's daughter extends her hand out and places it ontop of her mothers in an act of reassurance. "Your father was a hardened trooper scarred by his earlier life. I don't want you to expect a family man, instead brace yourself for an alcoholic who's main focus was his missions. Yes he will care for you, protect and even love you but please understand he may not show his emotions easily."

Liara's daughter nodded her head, she knew his life hadn't been the easiest, she knew he had no family as a child and she knew of his military career but she never knew the whole story. Liara kept some critical bits hidden, such as why he had no family and why many in Alliance command actually feared him, maybe now she could find out. "What happened to him in his early life to make him what he is?"

"It is not my place to tell but considering the circumstances I believe you should know. When he was eight his family was slaughtered by some Batarians, he witnessed the entire event as he hid in an air duct. After that he had a very turbulent school life, it got so bad he was nearly declined entry in to the Alliance, but once he was accepted into their arms he changed. His focus evolved to getting revenge for his family and he climbed the ranks until the Council eventually recognised his talent for getting jobs done, once council tools were at his disposal nothing stopped his revenge. After his Revenge was complete he became an alcoholic and a few years later transformed into the more honourable man he was when I fell for him."

The child knew of some things her father did under council authority, some of it would make the criminals that he disposed of look like saints and that was after Liara started to change his ways. She could not imagine what his revenge would of involved. "But what was he like when he saved our... your life?"

The older Asari removes her hand from under her daughters and places them on top. "Our lives. It is our lives and I think its about time you find out. Stay here until I awake him, once I make sure everything is in order I will come get you."

Liara closed the door behind her as she made her way into a large circular room, it looked like anything but a hospital ward, it had entertainment systems, gym equipment, even military hardware in far side of the circle. Liara designed the room purposefully not to look like it belonged to a hospital as she knew if her Human thought it was anything hospital related he would make a brake for his so called freedom. Walking to the body on a bed in the middle of the room she takes one last look at the sleeping human, taking in the scarred skin, the scents and the texture of his hair, it was exactly how she remembered it. Inhaling deeply she raises her shaking hand containing a space age needle to his neck and administrates a small potion to wake the man.

As the human started to stir she places her hands gently on his shoulders in preparation for when he attempts to sit up, the doctors warned her that he would have stiff muscles and suffer possible drowsiness. As his breathing rate increased and his limbs started to move slightly Liara gently spoke up. "Reginald."

/.../

Reginald slowly stirs from his 89 year slumber, as he does Liara speaks again. "Reginald." The Human wafts his hand in the air in an effort to silence the voice, Liara noticing the action speaks once more. "Can you open your eyes?"

"It's your turn to put the chairs on the fire." With those words out in the open the human turns onto his other side in an effort to gain more sleep. Liara raises a brow at this response however does not give up on the man. "Reginald!" Nothing happened. Sighing to herself she left the room and returned with a small cup of water a few minutes later, the second she arrived back at the bedside Liara threw the water over him while giving a slight smile as she performed the act.

The man sits bolt straight the second the cold liquid hit his skin, as he looks up to find the person who would do such a wicked act he finds Liara stood at the bottom of the bed and himself in some strange room. As his mind attempted to work out what was going on he fell back on the bed. "Lee what the hell was in that drink?"

Liara shakes her head in a dramatic fasion. "Reginald, it's me, Liara, your safe on Thessia after your journey back to civilisation."

There is a large sigh released by the man. "How long?"

Liara sits down on the side the bed and places a hand softly on his chest. "89 years. EDI's programme on board the SR-2 managed to return you to the nearest Mass Relay. When the SR-2 was in civilised space I dispatched a team to collect the Normandy and your bodies."

"Titan?"

Liara shakes her head. "EDI's sensors lost track of it 62 years ago, from her calculations it wont reach the nearest relay for another 3 years."

Reginald takes a deep breath in before making his reply vocal. "Lee?"

Liara now nods her head. "We are preparing to resurrect him in a days time."

"How exactly could you resurrect us 89 years after we died?"

"You died from hypothermia but your body was successfully preserved as a few hours after death the cockpit had cooled to 273 Kelvin, then about a year after it was hovering around 50 Kelvin. But with a tad of modern science we managed to bring you back. Anyway I have somebody you need to meet. Just stay here."

Reginald give those last three words a lot of thought. "Why? I'm in a hospital aren't I?"

"No, just, just you need to meet some one."

Reginald grumbled to this response, he could see straight through her. "Just help me on my feet, I feel like I've ran a few hundred miles and need to burn it off."

Liara allowed Reginald to sit up onto the edge of the bed, once he was prepared to fall off the brink she stood onto her own two legs and situated herself in front of the human. "Your legs will take a second to re-adjust to standing. Ill help stabilise your self when your ready." The man nods his head and takes the plunge while not expecting his legs to be a problem. However upon impact with the cold floor his mind soon changes its stance on the situation. Liara quickly takes action after she observes his balance quickly changing from a suitable position above his legs to an off centre location. Placing her arms under his arm pitts she manages to stabilise Reginald's body and return his centre of mass above his legs. "You good?"

Reginald nods his head and places a hand behind him on the mattress for added stabilisation. "Yeah, I'm all good now, thanks." Liara nods her head as a powerful urge starts to over come her, so far she had not thanked her saviour yet and neither had she really had any intimate contact with the man other than a hand on his chest. Taking an additional step forward she pulls the man into an embrace before he could react, as she pulled hard against his torso she felt his breath initially hitch at the unusual gesture, a position she was determined to force him to get used to. "Liara?"

"Yes?" Is the Asari's response as she tightens her hold on the man that little bit more.

"How is the crew?"

After a few more seconds she forms her response. "Myself, Pebble and Rumra are doing fine, after all 90 years is next to nothing for the long lived, meanwhile Garrick and Dec are now bags of old bones, unfortunately Jack passed away about two months after you forced us into the life pods. An out of the blue heart attack got him during the night."

This news prompted perhaps the first full emotion the man had felt since waking up. A one he rarely showed or acted on, sadness. "Out of all the fire fights and the encounters with Titan a heart attack got him? Seems like an unfitting end for the man."

Liara nods her head slightly and loosens her grip around his body. "Yes, anyhow you must meet somebody, I'd suggest getting changed with the clothes in the far corner." She thought against offering any consultation over the manner as she knew he would down right deny it and she wanted her daughter to finally meet her father.

The humanoid turned on her heels and left the man stretching his legs off, as she left the room she turned back around and locked the door from the outside, not in an effort to capture her human but in an effort to protect him from assassins originating from groups opposed to the Shadow Broker or even Reaper apologists. After locking the door she made her way back towards her daughter, she could barely contain her excitement at the thought of her child finally getting to know her father.

Meanwhile the young Asari patiently sat facing the hallway her mother left for, she too could barely contain her excitement, the thought of gaining a farther ran wild through her head however she was also curious, what was her father truly like? Is he really the hero that her mother made him out to be?

As the seconds passed they only seemed to grow in length exponentially to the Asari, after 10 more excruciating minuets she could take it no more. Standing up she marched to the corridor her mother disappeared through, as she turned the corner she came face to face with her mother. Before either one could speak a word Liara took her daughters hand and started to quickly walk back through the building to the room she just left.

/.../

The second Liara left the room Reginald got to work, despite still being un-easy on his feet he managed to stumble up to the clothes, pull them on and then make his way for the door, getting there he attempts to rotate the handle through the latching point and open the door however his efforts are interrupted when he finds the handle was being obstructed from rotation. Assuming the door was locked the man inspects the opposite side of the door with the hinge, there he finds four 10mm thick heavy duty hinges each secured to the door with five equally heavy duty security bolts, each having a different head so in total 20 different tools are required to remove the door from the hinges. Reginald took a step back from the door to inspect the frame however as he suspected it was just as secure as the door. Not being a defeatist he reproached the door however slowly bent down to inspect the handle with greater care. The circular handle its self was approximately 30mm in radius and was secured to the door with some security bolts, directly below the handle there was a small hole, approximately 10mm in diameter, bending down a slight touch more he looked through the hole, sure enough on the inside of the hole there was a small key shape cut into some silvery material. Standing back up the man turned around and approached the military boxes in the room.

Opening the first box he found a large pressurised air canister, the second box was empty but in the third he found cleaning chemicals for spring loaded weapons. Rolling his eyes at the chemicals he turned back to the air cannister, hauling the cylinder out of the box he inspected the nozzle at the top, in order to release the air a small pipe was required to be pushed into the nozzle and then a latch on the cannister needed to be pushed down. Turning around to all the pneumatic systems in the room for raising and lowering the medical bed he awoke on it did not take him long to find a pipe that would push into nozzle. The next problem Reginald needed to over come was that this system alone would not force the door to open, so in order to rise above this problem he quickly disassembled the gym equipment and produced a open piece of pipe with two ends, each end had a thread on the sides and fortunately for Reginald the threads of the noose on the pneumatic pipe and the gym piece intertwined. The only thing that was left was to find a projectile that could either damage or destroy the lock. The projectile that he used was a dumbbell from some of the weights in the room, it wasn't a perfect fit in the pipe but he was hoping it would do the trick.

Dragging his conception over to the door he took a deep breath as he raised his pipe come cannon in the air and using his forward foot he pushed the lever down on the cannister. Every thing worked perfectly, so well in fact that the projectile tore a hole of 100mm in diameter in the thick plywood door. Dropping his freedom device on the floor he simply walked out of the door in an attempt to find his freedom.

/.../

Liara nearly ran back down the corridor, only stopping as she gained a view of the open door and wooden shrapnel laying outside the room, pulling her daughters hand that little bit harder she put her bodies legs at full steam ahead until she reached the room. Upon arriving she investigates the broken lock and notices the latch bent inwards, meaning the door was forced open from the inside, her human managed to perform a great escape. Standing up from examining the lock Liara studies the hall with only one question in her mind; what would Reginald head towards?

Its not long till the fire exit symbol is noticed by Liara, as soon as the image of the sign was processed by her brain she turns to her daughter once more and pulls her quickly down the corridor to follow the signs, after about 100 or so meters the signs eventually takes Liara to a door that lead outside. Turning to her child once more before leaving the door Liara signalled her wish to go the next part of the journey alone, the young asari bows her head to her mothers wish and takes a seat on the steps of the stairs near the exit. Liara takes another deep breath before she pushes the door open, the second her first foot was through the door she takes a quick surveillance of the surroundings, infront of the door was a narrow path that went right and beyond that about ten meters or so of some grass before a steep hill leading down into a valley, to her right the path continued along side the buildings structure and a few trees formed shadows over the path, to her left Reginald was propped up against the wall on the floor about a meter from the door and he looked rather relaxed in the mid-day sun. After latching the door open on the catch mechanism built into the door she takes a slow walk to her humans left side and sits down with her back against the wall and her side pressed against the human. A few short seconds pass by before she speaks. "Will you ever willingly stay in a hospital?"

The human shakes his head ever so slightly as he speaks. "Naa, not after planet IB634. Once bitten twice shy I'm afraid."

Liara's daughter sat up at hearing her fathers voice, yes she had heard it from the old military propaganda videos and documentaries regarding the fleet killer called Titan. But to hear it from the man him self was different. It sounded deeper than in the videos she had seen and there was a thick human accent on top, something quite commonly removed using advanced software to allow more people to understand the videos. Quietly standing after her fathers words she slowly makes her way as close to the door as possible to get a better spot for hearing the conversation but still remaining invisible to her mother and father.

Reginald took a deep breath before speaking again."You know, after 3 and a bit months of been cooked up on the Normandy you forget how a star feels like when you are planet side."

Liara's response came back rather quickly. "Yes, I can imagine, Rumra mentioned the lack of vitamin D in your blood stream."

The homosapien's breath pitched at hearing the doctors name, the last major conversation he remembered with her was regarding Liara, Reginald's stomach nearly turned as he remembered the conversation and he was kicking himself inside at the thought of not prompting Liara on the topic earlier. "Liara?" The Asari turned to face her human and instead of giving a vocal response a smile of her face signals her attention. "Erm, when we were last together, weren't you err, expecting?"

Liara gives a slow exaggerated nod of her head before speaking. "Yes, I give birth to our beautiful daughter 88 years back." After she spoke her heart rate raced ahead of the normal, she had no idea as to how he would react, after all the last he knew she was still pregnant and the war was raging against the single invasive reaper.

"88 years missed eh?" There is a short pause before he continues. "How is she?"

Liara stands up and helps her human back onto his feet. Once the man is supported on his own two legs she turns her head to the door and speaks up. "You can come out now."

Reginald's and his daughters breathing stopped momentarily at hearing this comment and both grew lead weights in their stomachs. After what seemed like an eternity to all three participants the young Asari slowly exits the building and turns to face her parents. "Mother. Farther."

The humans eyes nearly boggle out of his head, his daughter looked like a younger slightly smaller version of her mother. After a long silence he eventually manages to make some words vibrate off his tongue. "I'm sorry but I don't know your name."

The young Asari takes one or two steps closer before she replies. "A-Aurora Borealis T'soni. I-I was named after the aurora borealis found in northern skies."

Reginald is dumb struck, the only thing he can think of is his earlier question to Liara, but it doesn't seem like a fitting question right now, however after a painful silence it is the only thing he can think of to keep the conversation alive. "So, Aurora... How is life?"

Liara contains her laugh, she knew exactly what was going on inside of his brain, after all she has been inside it twice. Meanwhile Aurora takes another step forward and forms her response. "Excellent thank you. I hope you are feeling well."

"Never better, thanks for asking." There is a small pause as he attempts to work out how old his daughter is relative to a humans life cycle. "So are you at university or college?"

Nodding her head in the same manner that her mother performs the task Aurora replies "College."

Liara stifles yet another laugh, this is their first ever meeting and one of the first things he asks is about her education? She makes a mental note to try to help improve his social skills in the up coming weeks as Reginald makes his response. "So are you enjoying your studies?"

Aurora's response comes slightly quicker as her confidence levels start to increase and her nerves calm down. "Yes, it is of interest, my current subjects of research are military studies, maths, Reaper technologies and physics."

Reginald was a little taken back by her response, he knew Liara would have his daughter well educated but did not expect such subjects to be studied, he assumed she would take after her mother by studying Protheans and ancient civilizations. "So any plans for university or?"

The child nods her head yet again. "I plan on joining the commando's as an engineer."

Liara's mouth nearly hit the floor, her daughter would do no such thing however before she can say anything Reginald speaks up. "Commando's eh? Before you make such a decision I would like to show you what conflict is really like."

"Yes, that is a good idea through a meld only. Anyway considering you haven't eaten in over 89 years I think its about time we continue this conversation over some food." Is Liara's quick follow up to the last statement made.

Reginald immediately thinks back to when they ran out of meaty foods on the Normandy, the only thing that kept him going other than alcohol and Lee was the thought of eating a bacon butty filled to the brim with thick bacon. "Anywhere we can get a bacon butty?"

Liara shakes her head. "Not on Thessia, but there is a steak substitute you can probably consume."

"Well that or any other meat will do, you have no idea what eating rabbit food for a full two months is like." Reginald turns back after his statement to his daughter. "Unless you have any better ideas?"

Aurora could no longer hold back a temptation she had gained a small while back, taking a additional step forward she wrapped her arms tight around his torso and pulled him into a tight embrace. Reginald looked over to Liara who give him a reassuring smile accompanied with a nod of her head, after Liara's reassurance he slowly returned the gesture. As his arms returned the favour to his daughter she spoke up softly. "Steak will do just fine."

* * *

Thanks for reading, I was primarily experimenting with this story line and set-up but if I gain enough interest I will continue it.


	2. Awakening

Laying in bed that night Reginald falls asleep in Liaras arms, the Asari stroked her humans hair gently as she revelled in the moment, his two strong arms were wrapped around her mid torso and his head was resting in the dip of her neck, the two were resting in peace, there was no threat of invasion or emergency mid night calls like the old days. This was everything she once dreamed off, herself wrapped in his arms and a daughter with two parents to consult. Just as she was about to join her man in the dream world her omni tool flashes and a small orange globe pops out. "Liara are you available?"

Liara curses the globe under her breath and whispers her response. "Yes, if you are quiet."

The globe pulses as its response is made with its volume level reduced. "Your daughter is talking to Mrs Row's child via online messaging services, her topic of conversation may be of concern to prompt a security alert."

Liara releases a deep sigh, she did not enjoy spying on her daughter's conversations but would do so if it meant they would be safe. "Only alert me if any full names has been mentioned or details regarding my profession or Reginald's history is leaked."

The globe does not collapse back into the omni tool. "I believe enough historic data has been released by your daughter that one could theoretically link your child to Reginald."

Liara releases her grip around the man and stands up after prying her way out of his arms, "AI, collapse, I'll deal with this." Liara walks into her daughters room after two knocks on the door and sits down on her child's bed. Aurora flicks off her terminal screen, approaches and then sits down by her mother. "Aurora?"

Aurora looks up to her mother with large puppy dog eyes, not sure as to what she has done to require her mothers presence in her bedroom this late at night. "Yes?"

"My AI has told me you may be compromising our safety."

Aurora scratches the back of her head, she can not think of anything she may of written which could come back to haunt her family. "I do not believe so."

The older Asari releases a deep sigh. "AI has raised concerns that you may of leaked Reginalds history to a friend."

The child raises a hand to her chin, it is a few more seconds before she replies. "I may of mentioned he was once in a battle with Titan but I have not mentioned his full name."

"I do not mind you expressing your self but you know as the shadow broker I, we, have many enemies. Reginald him self has probably more enemies than myself and he was once a big name with the events he was involved in very closely followed, we could easily get unwanted followers or networks putting the dots together and finding out who we are."

Aurora nodded her head. "I'm sorry, it wont happen again."

Liara pulls her daughter into a tight embrace. "There is no need to be sorry, if anything I am sorry that we need to be so secretive." Aurora does not fully understand, she was given everything she could ever ask for by her mother, money, toys, gadgets, happiness but most of all love and now a completed family, why should she be sorry? Controlling what came out of her own mouth is just a small price to ask. "I just want us to be safe and happy."

The two sit in silence for a few minutes in each others arm's until Aurora quietly speaks up. "you seemed strangely quiet today."

Liara nods her head. "I wanted you two to talk, If I talked then there was less chance for yourselves to communicate."

"If it makes you happy, I'll make more efforts to..."

Liara stops her daughter. "No, be yourself. And if you really want to make me happy follow me."

Liara need not too of asked, Aurora jumped onto her feet before one could blink, leading her daughter through the small house near the hospital she stops just outside her bedroom. "I used a small trick I learned along time ago during a meld earlier to put him asleep"

Aurora holds her hands up in surrender. "Please, no details." After she finished she poked her head slightly around the door to witness her father flat out cold on the bed. "Don't you think he might not appreciate being tricked into this state?"

Liara shook her head. "He was getting restless over Titan, it was keeping him awake." Liara watches her man for a small time before speaking once more. "If you really want to make your relation stronger with him do as I say." Aurora nods her head in anticipation for her mothers wisdom. "Humans especially Reginald do not like making others they care for uncomfortable. If you were to fall asleep in his arms he will stay there till you are awake. When he awakes he will most likely study you, and this is when his emotions towards another, or you in this instance are increased."

Aurora bows her head and silently enters the room.

/.../

Start

Perform Bios Check

Time 1014553143, commanding operating system 4214 v43; check proves subject operational. Flash memory ;check proves operational.

Perform Tactical Data check

Normandy SR-2 not in range. Priority 1 target location – Unknown. Current position 45:87:898, 14 months 23 days 1 hour 48 seconds from Relay 42

Technological check.

All components in working order.

Find reason for unscheduled programme start

Unknown signal found, sub-advaced species 4320104 detected

Tactical Check on sub advanced species 4320104

No Relay technologies, Weapons undetermined, probability of providing resistance in future encounters, greater than 99.74%.

Perform risk assessment.

Inferior technologies, no threat posed by species 4320104

Contact Command, request permission to engage.

*Permission granted*

Find hostiles and engage, no survivors. Weapons 1-50 allowed. Charge shields 1-4

contact lower species

"Your worlds shall fall and your navies burn, your destruction is inevitable. I am Titan"

Atenna 52 detecting plausible response. Request action from Command.

*Search and destroy. The survival of species 4320104 is not permitted.*

Power weapons 1-50 Ignore incoming signal from hostile species.

Firing.

Species 4320104 eliminated, home world destroyed, fleeing vessels terminated.

Identify next target.

Earth, co-ordinates 43657:2445:2223494.

Tactical check

Technological advancement - Unknown, Weapons, last known technologies include fusion based biological adapting systems. Fleet size- unknown

Risk assessment.

Expect heavy resistance.

Call reinforcements?

Contact Command.

*Dispatching four additional fire ships for assistance, Estimated time of arrival, 18 months 22 days 56 seconds.*

Reschedule next programme start 14 months, 22 days 13 hours 56 seconds at relay 42

End.

/.../

Reginald awoke as a sunlight crept through a small slit in the blinds and light up the room, as he was about to stand up and fix the insouciance he realised there was an Asari resting over the top of one of his now numb arm. As he looks down over the Asari in an attempt to work out which one was cutting his blood stream off from his lower arm he sees one familiar blue arm draped over his mid section from behind. Just before Reginald was about to wiggle his arm free from the dead weight of his daughter Aurora turned around and gazed up to her father, Reginald utilised this turning action and quickly pulled his arm free. "Father?" Reginald looked up from exercising his numb arm, as he did so he caught Aurora looking deeply into his eyes.

"I'm all ears"

Aurora took a deep breath before speaking again. "Why did my mother say you like your scars?"

Reginald inhaled deeply. "When I received my first wound it was from a mistake, then every wound after that was from another mistake. My scars don't let me forget those mistakes."

The Asari child doesnt give an initial reply instead turns slightly and pulls herself closer into his chest. "Do you enjoy conflict?"

Reginald knew if he shook his head and say no that he would be downright lying to his daughter, but if he also simply nodded his head and told the truth he may prime her for a life he would rather she avoided, so in order to answer this he took his time and crafted an answer. "I enjoy conflict because of my early life, you have had a mother, a child hood and excellent education, unfortunately I can't say the same. Just please think of this. If you were to enter the commando's I would help you in anyway I could such as giving you my knowledge in the field of combat and tactical know how, but I don't want to do that, if you really want to be an engineer I'd rather you took after Lee."

As she snuggles her body into his that little bit more she makes her vocal chords vibrate. "My mother says Lee is an alcoholic and crazy person to be avoided."

There was a deep sigh released at this comment. "Lee is a brilliant engineer, I would stake my life on his abilities. Yes he has his bad parts such as his rampaging addiction to alcohol and his crazy methods of producing the stuff but he is not to be avoided."

She eventually gets into a comfortable position before speaking once more. "I enjoy technology but like an adrenaline rush. But if you wish I will not join the Commando's."

Reginald contains a slight groan, he was not the most fond of these types of conversation. "Aurora, I think this is best a conversation for your mother. I am just some marine who knows how to pull a trigger, this is not my profession or skill."

Aurora shakes her head. "But you are my father, you need to learn how to talk to me."

"If you want me to be honest ask, however you may not like what you hear."

There is a slight pause before she speaks. "That... honesty, is all I ask."

"Dont join the commando's. You are innocent, not to be put through such a life and your mother would be horrified." There is a slight nod.

"If you wish so, but if you don't mind me changing topics again, how did you get this scar?" as she speaks she gently touches a large circular scar on his upper right chest.

"Shot by a Reaper apologist, in fact I believe we have the video archived on how I gained it."

She gives a slight nod as she taps another long scar down his right waist. "And this one?"

That one was probably the most interesting scar he gained. "I handed myself into the blue suns in order to take down a general of theirs. They took me in and started to torture myself because well, I basically destroyed their entire operations anyway I had to endure the torture till the man I wanted to kill turned up. But pretty much to cut a long story short I gained it by taunting the guys who were torturing me, a heated blade formed that scar."

As Reginald speaks Aurora traces her finger up and down the scar, each muscle her finger passed over caused his reflex's to tense the muscle. "And this one." Her finger moves onto another just below his neck. "Some Batarian Scavengers I would rather forget."

Her finger stops searching his body. "The ones that..."

Liara cuts her off mid speech. "Aurora, not the time or place. Now its barely even six, we have a long day ahead so can we please go back to sleep?"

"It's six? Perfect time to start my training, those three months of moonshine drinking has allowed my body to get soft." Despite originally wanting more sleep the new information changed the man's perspective of his current situation.

Liara's arms pulls into his waist that little bit more. "Shhh, its not even six, now please, relax and go back to sleep." Reginald was about to form an argument in return however he thought better of it.

/.../

Liara stands and stretches her body, as she does so she fumes with her self that she somehow allowed Reginald to escape her arms during the last four hours since she last spoke. "Aurora have you seen your father?"

Aurora shakes her head as she too starts to wake. "He got up three hours back, said something about researching a few names."

Extending her arm out to her daughter to help her self up on Liara speaks once more. "We need to get him more... house trained. Will you help me?"

As Aurora stood onto her feet she nodded her head. "Yes and you were right he is quite driven for war."

Liara pulls her child close. "Yes he is, I think we should go all Asari on him, As the Humans say, cute and cuddly."

There is a nod of her childs head. "Cute and Cuddly. Any way what is planned for today?"

Liara lets her child go free as she starts to find some clothes. "Awaken Lee, introduce them too the SR-4 and spend the rest of the day house training."

Aurora lays back down on the bed. "The ship that nearly bankrupted you?"

Liara nods her head as she pulls her shirt on. "Yes, the one that is still to be flown. Anyway I'll make some food, so you have about ten minuets. Today's Special is the human omelette."

Rubbing her belly as she curls up once more on the bed Aurora responds. "Yes please."

/.../

Walking into the Kitchen Liara is surprised to find four sausages cooking next to eight slices of bacon and two eggs laying on the side ready to be cooked also, looking around the kitchen and the living room she fails to find her human. Inhaling deeply she raises her voice as she calls his name.

Reginald hearing his name been called walks through the front door after lounging in the sun. "I found some bacon."

Liara walks up to the man as he starts to tend to the food. "So what were you doing outside?"

As he rotates the sausages 180 degrees he forms his response. "It is 390 odd kelvin outside, so nothing much, just increasing my vitamin D levels."

Liara locks her hands around his lower waist once more as she peers over his shoulder. "So you cooking anything for me?"

He gives a slight nod of his head as he flips the bacon. "Beans in the microwave, toast isn't done yet."

"Beans on toast?"

Reginald continues to maintain his food as he responds. "I don't know any other Vegetarian meal other than grass in a bowl, so beans on toast will have to do unless you want to make something else."

Unlocking her hands around Reginald's waist she swiftly moves to the microwave. "No Bacon for me?"

Reginald turns from cracking the eggs and stares at Liara. "You aren't a vegetarian?"

Liara shakes her head as a small smirk spreads across it. "No, just there is very few meats I actually enjoy, but do not worry bacon and pork is not one of them however if you are cooking I'll have an egg."

Reginald raises an eyebrow as he fishes another egg out of the fridge and cracks it open into the pan. "Aurora does like bacon, pork and egg right?"

Her reply comes as she starts to feed some bread into a toaster. "Yes, she will consume it with no questions asked and probably try to steal some food off your own plate while doing so."

Reginald half laughs at this. "She will be lucky, the last person to do that had a fork removed from their hand."

The Asari also releases a small snigger as she remembers Lee's squeals as the fork was extruded from his hand. "Yes well, just remember she is your daughter."

"She will get the same warning as Lee." Nobody touches Reginald's Bacon, and he was more than determined to keep that rule alive.

Liara shakes her head, not entirely sure if he was using sarcasm or some other form of advanced human language technique to portray something he did not intend. "So how did you get the bacon here?"

"I found some human grocery shop on the other side of the planet with thanks to your networks. Anyhow do you want to fetch Aurora, the food will be done in a minute."

Liara shakes her head as she starts to butter her newly cooked toast. "Nope, going to have to do it your self."

Reginald stares at the pan with the sizzling bacon for some time. "Not worth risking burned bacon." Turning around to face in the direction of the bedroom he takes a deep breath before raising his voice. "FOOD!"

Liara shakes her head yet again as she sits down with her beans on toast. "Well, that will do the trick. How long for the egg?"

"Now." Turning around he splats an egg mid plate.

Just as the egg landed ontop of Liara's plate Aurora appeared in the doorway to the kitchen. "That doesn't smell like omelette."

"Nope, smells like a full English to me." As he replies the child pulls up a chair next to her mother on the table.

"What ever it is it smells good."

"You can't beat bacon in the morning, or pork and egg for a matter of fact."

/.../

"So this is what I looked like before you resurrected me?" Reginald inspects Lee's frozen body with great care.

"Yes, except from the medical instruments now applied." Rumras response came as she started to prepare the machinery to wake the human.

"Aurora come check this out, this is what happens when you steal my bacon." As Reginald gushes his daughter to him he points to four small rectangle shaped scars on Lees hand

Rumra turns from fine tuning the machine that was required to resurrect the body. "I still can't believe you stabbed him with a fork over some bacon. When you came into my infirmary on the SR-2 and told me the story I believed you two were just wasting my time with some practical joke."

"No, although he was quite dramatic over the entire thing." Rumra rolls her eyes as she returns to tending the machine after Reignlad's response.

There is a few whines and groans from the machine before she turns around and speaks once more. "Right one last thing to do." She walks over from the machine and presses some needle onto his neck. "Considering I know you will be curious Reg its a genetic modification injection."

Reginald stands straight, to him that did not sound healthy. "Err what?"

Liara speaks up from observing by the door approximately two meters from the bed "We will explain to yourselves later. Don't worry, its safe."

Rumra turns from administrating the genetic modifier to the frozen man's neck. "Ok we now need to leave, this room is about to become highly radio-active as the machine works."

The living leave the room as the machine starts to work is magic, only the odd groan or gush of air could be heard from the outside the room. But Reginald was still mulling over this idea of a genetic modifier. "So what exactly does this modification to our genes do?"

Liara pulls the man's face gently to face her more so than before. "Don't worry, it is safe. We will explain when you are both awake."

Reginald shakes his head, he could not fathom the requirement for the entire thing, after all if a body works why change it?

"Ok so how long is this going to take?" is asked by Reginald as the machine in the room next door to the three Asari and Human releases yet another groan.

The previous doctor of the Normandy SR-2 raises her hand enough in order gain sight of the time. "20 seconds."

/.../

"So how do we wake him? Clashing of pans and pot's should work." Rumra releases a sigh.

"Reginald, he has been sedated, hitting him with a pan wouldn't wake him never mind clashing them together." The grin that spreads across the man's face makes her regret saying such a thing.

"Really?"

Rumra raises a hand to her face and rubs her forehead. "No we are not going to try it. Now please give me 10 seconds to administrate the drug required to wake him."

Reginald looks up after prodding and violently shaking the now alive heavily sedated human. "It appears you are correct.."

Rumra shakes her head as she yet again raises her hand to her forehead. "Can I just inject this stuff?"

The conscious human takes a step back into the arms of his newly found family and Rumra pushes the chemicals deep into the unconscious humans neck. After doing so she turns to Liara. "How long did it take for this one to wake?"

wrapping her arms around the man once more she eventually forms her response. "10-20 seconds."

All of a sudden Lee violently sits up on the bed somehow out of breath. "Ah shit, I was dreaming beer was illegal." after he speaks his mouth nearly fails to close as he looks around the room.

Rumra and Liara give each other a long look before Reginald manages to speak. "Not quite yet."

"Are you real?" The man stars to touch his surroundings in an effort to decide if he was still in a dream world or not.

"In the flesh babe." Rumra leans over and kisses the man on the lips, the result was Reginald nearly giving Rumra a double look, he now understood why she was so angry when he stabbed from the looks of things her man.

Turning to Liara Reginald whispers into her ear. "When did they get together?"

Liara shrugs her shoulders. "I had no idea myself."

As the kiss seemed to go Aurora lightly jabbed her father in the side. "That is what you need to start doing to mother."

Liaras mouth drops open. As it starts to close she manages to speak quietly. "While true try keeping this to private ears?" Reginad's response to his child's statement was some what more of a grunt than anything else.

As the two love birds in the far corner start to gasp for air Reginald starts getting down to business. "So, guess how old you are."

Lee falls back onto his bed while panting. In between a pant he manages to speak. "Quite?"

"What ever you were before you last fell asleep add 89. We have 3 years to prepare."

Liara jabs her own man in the side lightly. "Reg, now of all times? Anyhow, Lee how are you feeling?"

"Like I've just ran up a flight of stairs but hey for a 134 year old, quite good. Anyway I need a drink, something strong." Aurora looks back to Reginald after Lees comment remembering her fathers own remarks on Lee's raging alcohol addiction.

Punching her man gently on the arm Rumra speaks once more. "No you don't. This shot should tame the cravings." Before she retrieves a needle or any other drug administration device the two locks lips once more

Liara starts to pull gently on Reginald's and Aurora's arm. Before they leave the room she turns back around and addresses the two lovers. "We will leave you two for some private time. Just try not to be too long, we need to have a serious conversation about a few things."

* * *

Thanks for reading. (Oh and if you don't know 273 kelvin = 0 degrees Celsius or 32 degrees Fahrenheit. [290 kelvin = 20Dc or 68Fh])


	3. Titan and the SR-4

"Right, first thing first. Reg I know you will be itching to find out what this genetic modifier is." Reginald nods his head to Liara as the five of them sit in a private consultation room usually reserved for the most unfortunate patients or family members.

Rumra stands after Liara spoke and retrieved a small lockable box from behind her. As she does so she speaks. "The modifier does two things." After turning back around to face the others she places the box gently on the table and inserts a complex looking key to open it. As she starts to open the box Lee jumps out of his chair and for cover, Reginald nearly follows in pursuit as he gains sight of the object as well.

"You can keep that thing far away from me." eventually is made by lee as he calms down over the object and moves around behind Reginald, Liara and Aurora who were sat opposite Rumra.

As the box fully opens Aurora trys to gain a better view of the object by repositioning herself in the room behind Rumra and Reginald's senses start to go into overdrive. However all is silent until Reginald speaks. "I told you to destroy it."

Liara nods her head. "We tried."

There is no response made by the man till his hand reaches his forehead and he leans back in the chair. "So how does this link to a Genetic modifier?"

Rumra and Liara exchange glances before the doctor speaks again. "When we pulled this out of you we initially thought it's sole purpose was for indoctrination, however it has a few perky extras." Before she continued any more she gently lifted the device out of the container and handed it over to Aurora who had gained her mothers inquisitive nature to the situation at hand. "After we failed to destroy it we started to research it and what we found is something beyond belief."

Lee speaks up after moving as far away as he could from Aurora and the device. "Dune, its Reaper Tech that originates from the most advanced bloody reaper known. You know, the single vessel that was decimating fleets on its own? To be beyond belief is not unusual for it."

Rumra shakes her head. "Maybe so however that gemstone is the key to eternal youth, the cure to all genetic problems..."

She is cut of mid sentence by Reginald. "And also a weapon of mass destruction. If somebody was to gain an indoctrination device from Titan it's self the repercussions could be catastrophic."

Liara catches her man's hand. "Not when I have a dedicated platoon that transports it and is ready to defend the item on hold 24 hours a day 365 days a year now please can you just hear what we have to say?"

Reginald looks at her for a long time before giving a slight nod. The signal was enough that Rumra continued. "In order to revive you we needed to utilise two of the thousands of genetic modifications it contained. Or only one on your self Reginald."

Reginald's heart nearly stopped. "What modifications?"

"The first was allowing your cells to regenerate from such a damaged state, so you both now have increased healing abilities by 100% Cuts, bruises and other trauma injuries your bodies can sustain will require half the time to repair and you are now immune to all genetic medical problems. The second is something to accompany the first modification, something this device already managed to manipulate in your cells in the short time it existed in your body. Some of your cells were so badly damaged after freezing to nearly 0 kelvin (-273.3DC / -457.87FH) they were beyond repair even with the earlier modification so we needed a method to bring them back as well, to do this we implemented a genetic modification that makes neighbour cells replace damaged or dead cells in close proximity. Or in short you now have an unknown life span and you are no longer going to age."

Reginald and Lee turn to each other slowly. Its Lee who manages to push the first words out into the open. "I'm not going to complain over that mod."

Liara was pleasantly surprised at the change of mood from Lee however could not quite get her mind around his ability to change moods like he does. Meanwhile Reginald turns back to Rumra. "So why can't we destroy this?"

Liara is the next to speak. "Pretty much its made from a material that was previously unknown. Harder than Diamond and heavier than lead. Its what we call a super heavy element and the casing on this little circuit was the first glimpse we found of the then hypothetical material."

"Super heavy elements? I thought we already knew of them." Lee had nearly pricked his ears at this conversation and Liara was now determined to move on as quickly as she could. Lee could talk for years on this topic.

"Yes and the SR-4 hull is built from this substance. It cost trillions to produce but we did it." Reginald and Lee once more look at each other not sure as to if Liara just said the SR-4.

Lee moves in closer, but remains wary of Aurora who was still scrutinising the device in her hands. "SR-4 you say?"

Liara gains a grin and nods her head. "My crown jewel. I have called the rest of the crew to meet on her later."

Lee scratches his head as he sits down next to reginald and opposite Rumra. "So its hull is lined with this super heavy element?"

Liara's eyes roll in her skull, if she was to follow this question up she did not know how long they would be here, but there was more that needed to be said right now. "Yes but that's not all."

Lee sits forward. "Is it internally lined with this element too?"

The hand raising to Liara's face showed her feelings towards Lee's now new found inquisitive nature. "Look, before you can see the SR-4 we need to talk about some other things first."

Lee stands from his chair. "Hell if we have a SR-4 with this hull I need to see it, we can talk on the way or something." Rumra shakes her head at Liara, the two Asari both know that he would not listen or participate in the conversation in his current excited state. Due to Lee's child like state Liara called in her teams to take the circuit back to some secure bunker and another agent to transport the five of them to the location where the SR-4 was awaiting to be discovered.

/.../

"Dad?" It takes Reginald a small time period to recognise that Aurora was directing her voice at himself.

"Yeah?" The man responds as he slowly lies down on the chairs in the luxurious limo like sky car that was going to transport them to the secretive location at which the SR-4 was dry docked.

"What and Who is Titan? Most of the information on it is classified and Mam wont say much." Liara looked down at her daughter who was resting her head on her shoulder, regretting the fact she never taught her the whole truth about Titan earlier.

Regianld turns over on the long chair to face Liara. "Do you want me to tell her or is there a reason why she doesn't know?"

There is a small shake of Liara's head before she makes her vocal chords vibrate. "No, I wanted her to find out when she was ready. But I could never bring my self to tell her about the thing which I assumed killed you."

Reginald took a deep breath in. "Tita..."

Liara quickly interrupts the man. "No wait! I have a better idea, why not show her?"

Reginald pushes his body up slightly off the chair. "What?" Aurora voices the same question to her mother.

"Asari often meld with their family. It helps form the relationships they share with one another and I don't believe you two have shared the same bond yet." Reginald lies slowly back down on the chair not too sure if he should say something or not.

"Mom do you think..."

Liara silences her child with a finger over her lips and pulls her face to look at her own. "You can do it. Just keep calm and construct the same connection you do with myself." As she finishes she pushes her daughter gently off the chair and towards her father.

Aurora nervously walks the meter to her father and sits down by his head, after a short silence she speaks while threading her fingers through one another. "Do you mind if I do this through a meld?"

Reginald nods his head after speaking. "Yes, however I don't want you accessing my memories. You understand?"

"Yes. Anyhow you need to help direct me, just think of Titan and also if you could place you head on my lap, it will be easier to perform the act." Aurora just told a little white lie to her father, it would not be any easier to perform the act with his head on her lap than in his current position, all she wanted was the close contact during the entire meld. Liara also noticed this little fib she told however remained silent as she knew Reginald had no idea how the meld process worked and she liked the fact her daughter was actively making a effort to get into close proximity with her father.

Reginald pushed his body slightly up and placed his head gently down onto his daughters lap, as his head came to a rest his daughter looked down into his eyes. "Are you sure you want to do this?" Reginald nodded his head as he responded. "Why the hell not?".

/.../

"What is that?" Aurora was shocked at the image that Reginald formed in his mind, it was of a massive ship, incomprehensible in size. Something that did not resemble anything she had ever seen before, it didn't even look like the Reapers of the past.

"That is Titan." Reginald came from the darkness behind his daughter and stood by her side. "8km long, over 300 weapon systems, hundreds of millions of years old, possibly billions but most importantly a Reaper Fire ship."

Aurora stood shocked as she studied the image, it looked like something from fictional movies, Something that was too menacing and powerful to be a real ship. "You asked me who Titan is. Do you still want to know?"

Aurora nodded her head. "Yes."

"Titan is a fire ship. Have you studied reaper classes yet or not?"

Aurora turns to her father. "Yes but a fire ship has never been mentioned before in great detail. All we know is that there were no recorded sightings of such a ship during the last great war."

"No. When I was on the front line applying resistance to this abomination it made multiple attempts to gain my body for indoctrination. In these indoctrination attempts I managed to learn a thing or two before your mother and Dune saved me from its grasp." As Reginald talked Aurora inched closer to her father, until she was almost on top of him. When she was just inches away she managed to worm her way under his arms. As she did so she spoke softly. "Do you mean Dr Rumra?"

"Doctor Rumra or Dune? What ever you prefer. Anyhow This reaper isn't like other reapers." As he spoke he shifted his left arm slightly to make life more comfortable for his daughter. "Titan doesn't have the same mindset as earlier reapers, or I should really be saying later reapers. Do you know who the Leviathans were?"

Aurora thinks back to her mothers lessons on ancient civilizations, and the Leviathans played a major role in some of her lectures. "Yes, the organics who created the first Reaper."

"Nearly. It was a fireship like Titan that actually enslaved the Leviathans, it manipulated them into creating the Reapers that we fought 250 years back, that is if I gained the right story from Titan him self."

By the time Reginald finished speaking Aurora had wrapped both her arms around the man. "Did you ever speak to it?"

Before Aurora could flinch a voice booms over some internal like speakers, the voice was loud, authoritative and hollow, enough so to even send a shiver down the spine of the man who had been inside its head. "Surrender your body and the Normandy SR-2 will be permitted to leave this system . It is unwise to test my patience."

Reginald looks down to his girl whose head was pressed firmly into his side. "How do you talk to something like that? Something with no colloquial skills, something that will calculate every move it makes, something that's sole purpose is to rain destruction and propagate death?"

Aurora shakes her head. "You can't"

Reginald gives her head a slight pat. "Not with words but with a hell of a big gun. Anyway since you are in my head I have one or two other things I want to show you. To be honest I think you have had enough of Titan"

Aurora looks up. "Yes, and what else would you want to show me?" As she looks up to her fathers eyes she comes aware of the change in scenery. The image of the fleet killer had changed, in its place was a new image of a small human family . "Who are they?"

"That Aurora is your human grandparents and uncle, in this scene I am the youngest child, the other child was Henry, my brother and then the two adults are Jennifer and John. My parents." As he talked the child pulled into her father that little bit more, realising the importance of this small memory to the man. "It is the clearest memory I have of them, the other memories are shady messes. Hell I don't even know if the other memories are figments of my imagination or not."

After a long silence Aurora gently spoke up. "Why are you showing me this?"

Reginald looks down once more from starring at the scene himself. "Because you should know who I came from, they are my and now your legacy." After a while longer the scene changed again. This time it was of a scene on Earth, on the ground snow laid multiple inches deep, trees scattered the hill side and the entire event was during the night. After some time search landscape for something of interest she looks up to her father who stood no more than half a foot taller, as she does so something catches her eye, there were blue, green, orange, yellow and even some purple lights dancing in the sky, to the child it was mesmerizing and uniquely beautiful. "What is it?"

This small comment made Reginald look down ever so slightly. "Aurora Borealis T'soni meet the Aurora Borealis." Aurora continued to watch as the lights danced in the sky. After an unknown time period Reginald speaks once more. "If we get the chance I would like to take you to see this in the flesh." The vigorous nodding into the side of the man's chest confirmed his newly found dogged determination to show this phenomenon to his child.

/.../

As they come out of the meld Reginald sits up and raises a hand to his head in a attempt to remove some sleep from the corners of his eye. Looking over to Liara he notices she now had fallen asleep and the two lovers in the back of the limo were also in the same state. "How long were we in there for?"

Aurora shrugs her shoulders. "Place what time is it?"

The driver who Aurora directed her question too was one of Liara's most trusted agents, so much so that often she was given the task of protecting the shadow brokers child herself. The driver is an Asari of young years herself, probably no more than 50 years ontop of Aurora. "9:15 pm."

Reginald stands from the long chair he had shared his memories with Aurora and stretches multiple body parts. "That didn't feel like four hours of our time."

"Time passes quicker in a meld, its like falling asleep really. Anyway thank you for melding with me." As Aurora responds she too stretches her neck.

Reginald wafts his hand in the air. "Ah no problem. Place how long till we reach the final destination?"

The driver keeps her eyes on the airways as she responds. "Approximately two hours if the traffic is low."

After performing multiple stretches Reginald sits back down on the chair next to his daughter. "So will she wake us when we arrive."

The child nods her head as she pulls her self closer. "Yes. Unless you ask otherwise."

Reginald shakes his head and lies back down on the chair. "Two hours kip for me then." As he starts to find a comfortable position on the chair a light body can be felt starting to clamber over him and fall down into a crack between the chair and his own body. Without opening his eyes he assumes that the body was Auroras and allows the dream world to over come him.

/.../

"You know I can make people talk, really I have done so many of these interrogations now it I think it have become a bit of a hobby." Reginald was sat in front of a Batarian family secured onto old wooden chairs, their hands tied behind their backs and the only thing that was stopping Reginald from massacring them there and then was that fact they had information he desperately needed. The oldest Batarian spat in his direction, most of the substance that exited its mouth was blood and broken teeth. "Yes, spit your teeth out, but unless you give me the information I want that will be all you can do."

"You aint getting nothing." was shortly released there after.

Standing up Reginald drags the youngest child tied up into the middle of the room and made sure he was in sight of everybody there. "You know, the best form of torture doesn't inflict physical pain on the information barer, instead its mental anguish." pulling a large knife out of its sheath secured around his waist he inspects its glint under the light. "I think we could drain the life from this one in under ooh, 30 seconds. Any bets? What do you think? 40 seconds?"

The oldest Batarian struggles against the restraints before spitting again excessively. "Leave here out of this. She doesn't know anything."

Reginald looks up from inspecting his knife. "Excellent, then by killing her I've lost nothing. Now, where are Drack Drive and Jinol Lockip?" The Batarian shakes his head. "Wrong answer. You see, you're daughter here will scream at first. Possibly wail a bit, cough blood from her mouth. But she will die, that is unless you start talking. You know they say the worst part is hearing the screaming. Anyway I want to know where you are hiding them NOW or we will see how close my bet came in five... four... three... two... one..."

All of a sudden the mother of the child talks. "Please, they are hiding..."

The older male Batarian quickly speaks over the top of the mother. "Shut up woman." These three words results in some additional broken teeth.

"You know I'm shocked, this kid at my feet is of your own blood yet you are willing to sacrifice her for some murdering looting friends. Wow." Reginald turns from speaking to the older batarian and looks at the mother. "Now, where are they hiding?"

/.../

Reginald wakes up panting and covered in sweat, a past event he once thought would never come back to haunt him just did. Turning over after calming down he looks over Aurora as she slept peacefully next to his body, the thought of swapping places with that Batairan and having Aurora in the same circumstance as that child sent a cold shiver down his spine and back up it. A position he was determined never to allow his family to enter. As he familiarised himself with the facial features of Aurora he does not hear Liara stand from her chair and kneel down by his back, the first indication he had of her presence was a kiss placed gently on his neck. "Still having bad dreams about the first battle with Titan?"

Reginald shakes his head. "No, Now I'm having nightmares."

Liara rests her lower chin softly on Reginald's neck. "Tell me."

He slowly shakes his head. "I'd rather not, it was from dark times."

Liara raises a hand and strokes the man's head softly. "I know what you have been through honey. Nothing you can tell or show me would change my or Aurora's opinion of yourself."

Despite Reginald knowing this statement to be true he can't help but feel that what he did was beyond sick and twisted, something even Liara would find hard to swallow. "I'll show you some other time, but for now I think we are about to arrive, are we?"

Liara stops stroking her humans head. "Later tonight then when we travel to the Citidel. And yes, we are ten minutes out."

/.../

Place took the small group to a remote location on some small island on Thessia, As Place starts to land the sky car a small security team could just be seen in the darkness coming out from a building at the complex she had taken them too. Liara noticing the guards turns around to Reginald primarily and speaks up. "Allow me to do the talking."

As the limo like car lands she gets out and approaches the guards who now had primed guns raised. "Your hands."

Liara stopped in her tracks. "Authorization code Alpha, Zulu, 4, 8, foxtrot, 1, Gamma. Backslash Alpha, 9, 2, Beta."

One of the guard's raises a hand to his ear as he repeats the code to some operator, its another few seconds before his hand falls. "Very well Ma'am. Please proceed."

Liara turns back to the car. "You are clear, come on. Place, park the ride in the ship when it appears."

Place looks puzzled to Liara's command. "What ship?"

"You will see, now come on, we haven't got all day."

The four occupants of the car each step out and give their own unique stretch as they recover from the long journey. As Reginald stretches his back he also exercises his vocal chords. "So this entire complex is dedicated so the SR-4?"

Liara nods her head. "Yes, now please be careful of what you say around here, these guards are some of my best, not to be taken lightly, they are heavily armed and very dangerous."

/.../

The complex seemed quite small, just a building or two darted around every so many hundred feet and a 500 meter large set of blast doors that were built into the ground and ran parallel with the planet surface. Liara led her small team down through one of the buildings, down stair case after stair case until she arrived at one large heavy door that required three codes or keys to unlock. The fist was a retina scan, the second was a 14 digit code. After that was entered Liara turned to Aurora. "You are my final key, if you will please scan your eye." Aurora does her mothers bidding, as her eye was removed from the scanner multiple locks could be heard to be opening. After several seconds the door unlatches and Liara grabs the handle, before she proceeds through the doors she turns around once more. "Keep a hold of your hats."

As the team file through the doors each one's mouth drops open in awe as they come face to face with the Normandy SR-4. Its lee who manages to speak first. "W-Whats her specs?" Liara gained a smile, she knew that this ship would make the man fall to his knees and pray to it.

* * *

Thanks for reading!


	4. Brutal consequence

The five of them stand starring at the vessel in front of them, Lee was nearly hopping around from excitement and Reginald was just studying the hull, weapon arrangements and the size. It was so large he could barely see the tail end. After a long silence Liara speaks. "I initially had issues calling this the SR-4. I alone was the undertaker of this vessel and well, as you can see it's not the same as the Normandy SR-1, or 2."

"Let me guess then, from the armament its a battle ship?" Reginald had studied the weapons as soon as he laid his eyes on the vessel. "And I agree, the SR-2 was a ship designed for reconnaissance, this looks like its built to declare war."

"Yes. She carries the largest bite our galaxy has to offer against Titan and the thickest hull. If she can't provide any resistance to Titan we are doomed." Lee nods his head vigorously at this.

"Aye, now lets fire her up! And if she is a battle ship we need war paint!"

Rumra lightly punches Lee in his arm as Reginald makes his response. "So is that 32 cannons facing forward?"

"36. There are two on either side hiding on the belly and they are the forth generation of the prototype weapons that were installed on the SR-2 during the last battle. About 150% more powerful, we also now can utilise a highly experimental torpedo system which can deliver a punch 3 times that of the Prototype cannons but they require the shields of a vessel to be drained."

Reignald slowly turns to Liara. "So if, that is if we drain its 4 multi phased adapting shields we get to use some torpedos?"

"We will drain them. Anyway, 450 meters long, 70 meters wide at its widest point and 20 at its thinnest. 4 fusion cores to power the weapons alone, another 3 for the four engines. You already know of the meter thick hull but what you don't know is that its coated in nano-particle paint and its stealth systems are excellent. So yes we could give it war paint."

Reginald soon speaks up after his girl. "So why hasn't she flown before?"

Liara shrugs her shoulders once more. "I could never find the right person to command it and I refused since I had parental requirements. But considering our child is approaching 100, or 17 in human terms I believe we are all old enough to fly on it. Anyway should we board?"

Lee stops Liara. "How does that work, nearly 100 but 17?"

The doctor fills Lee in on this. "Humans age differently to Asari, our 98 is your 17. We take far longer to come of age."

/.../

As the team walked into the Air lock 50 meters from the nose Liara spoke up. "This room has a small feature that would of saved multiple lives if the SR-2 had it when the collectors boarded." Reginald took to looking about, searching for something that looked like it did not belong in a simple air lock, all he could find was a small box connected to a wall with a hand imprint on it."AI are you active?"

A large orange globe formed on the wall in the air lock. "Affirmative."

Liara looks back to the team. "AI, activate unwanted docking protocols." all of a sudden twelve high caliber guns rotate from out of hidden positions in the walls and aimed at the five man team. "If the ship is boarded and the crew are in danger these will automatically activate, each gun fires explosive rounds at a rate of 400 bullets per minute. AI stand down." After she spoke the guns returned to their hidden position in the walls. "I have also included another security feature, in order for my AI to allow you to operate any part of this vessel you each need to gain a small implanted tag by inserting your hand in here." This is where the small box with imprinted hand came into play.

As Reginald inserts his hand into the small machine Liara speaks once more. "AI, allow Level 1 authorisation. All systems and networks are allowed." The machine quickly and painlessly injects a small transmitter in Reginald's hand. Lee was the next to go. "AI allow Level 2 authorisation. All systems allowed, network 1 restricted." Rumra follows Lee. "AI, same as before." Aurora did not approach the machine as she was not sure as to if her mother wanted her to be given any access to a weapon of war. However noticing her mother waiting patiently she slowly approaches and places her hand inside. "AI, allow the same access as myself and Reginald, however increase safety procedures till she is 100, so decline armoury and weapon access without direct permission from myself or Reginald."

As Aurora's tag is injected the inner airlock doors open to reveal a large white hallway and the outer doors seal shut. Reginald and Lee immediately take to looking around. It took them a whole hour to explore the entire ship, they visited each weapon room and explored every crack or hole they could find. The ship was thing of true beauty. After exploring the team gathered back in the canteen and Lee starts to make some comments on the vessel. "So this monster requires seven fusion plants to power it?"

"Yes Lee. However four of the power plants are only activated during combat for increased weapon power and charging rates." Lee was nearly jumping up and down on his seat, this was a true real life gem to the man. Something he could really live the rest of his unknown life on.

"Right are we ready to start the engines?" Liara stood up from the chair in the canteen awaiting for somebody to respond.

"Hell yeah, lets hear this baby purr." this was the first thing that came to Lee's head.

Liara inhaled deeply. "Lets hope they work then. AI you have the honours."

After waiting for several seconds and experiencing no change in state of the vessel Liara speaks once more. "AI, are the engines working?"

The AI's response was instantaneous. "Yes, Engines 1-4 are all powered and working to desired performances."

A hand retreats to the back of Liara's head. "Quieter than anticipated, AI open the blast doors, Lee you want to make your self at home in the cockpit? Controls are nearly Identical to that of the SR-2." She need not to of asked, he was already on his feet and away by the time she mentioned his name. "Suppose that means yes, come on we can gain a better view from the observation deck."

Liara led the four man party up to the highest point on the Normandy's SR-4's fuselage. As soon as the doors were open Lee wasted no time on disconnecting the dry dock clamps and getting the vessel into the air. After Picking Place up by opening the shuttle bay doors Lee makes way for the skies.

/.../

"AI, show Place to some living quarters and activate the nano-particle paint, make us look like a friendly Alliance vessel." Liara give the order under her breath as she gazed out into the stars, Reginald left her side a small while back and Aurora also left to find a bed for the night, leaving only Rumra and Liara. "Dune, what the hell am I doing? They just woke up from years of freezing in space and they are already flying on board the most advanced warship our galaxy contains."

Rumra shrugged her shoulders as she too gazed into the abyss of space. "You are trying to keep them happy, this is where they belong, on a ship destined for war. I hope you realise when Titan returns Reginald is not going to sit about. Nor is Lee."

"No, no they aren't. But I can sure as hell try to keep them grounded." Rumra trails her gaze from the stars to Liara.

"They are Human Liara. They will never know our own desires for a family life. If you really want to make Reginald sit around and be a family man you need to take away the motive. Allow him to go after Titan, this is the most advanced ship in the galaxy. They will come home."

Liara stands from sitting down on the soft chairs. "Hmm, this ship may be advanced but Titan is well, Titan. Anyway I am back to bed, tomorrow I have arranged for Dec, Garrick, Pebble, EDI and young Hodgins to meet at gate 4 at 10am."

Rumra releases a small laugh at this comment. "Young Hodgins? Ha. I think he has to be one of the oldest humans alive now, what is he 134?"

Liara shrugs her shoulders. "I don't know. Just lets stick to very old."

/.../

Before Liara hit the sack she first found Reginald who was in the primary armoury of the vessel accustoming himself with the modern weaponry, when Liara walked into the room he was up to the elbows in grease, oil and grime as he had taken some guns apart to find out how they ticked. As he inspects the trigger mechanism of a light machine gun called the WMK81 he exercises his vocal chords "Hey, did you ever save my gun collection?"

Liara takes a deep breath in. "Gun collection? You know there is a difference between a personnel collection of items and a museum."

Reginald looks up. "So is that a yes or no?"

"Yes, They are located in a storage locker, well, you had so many make that two." Reginald looks back down from the Asari and onto the trigger.

"Thanks, and I bet the old WW1 collection has rusted. Anyhow I take it your off up?"

"Yes, and try not to be too long." The asari would of approached the man however she did not want to risk her clothes getting contaminated with the grime and oil covering the man. "Also make sure you wash your arms before you come up."

/.../

Reginald crawled onto the bed slowly in an effort not to wake the sleeping Asari, however his efforts were futile. "You are late."

Giving up his efforts to be stealthy he just clambers under the quilt. "You know what its like when I start playing with guns."

Liara wraps her arms around the man as soon as he was comfortable. "Yes I do and that is no excuse. Now, what was that dream earlier?"

Reginald sighed as he placed his head in the dip of Liara's neck. "Just some interrogation from a while back."

"And?"

"I nearly killed a kid in cold blood, something I usually wouldn't have any problems with if it helped complete a task, but now it seems all that much harder."

"Was This before or after I joined your team?"

"Before, When I was hunting down the scavengers."

Liara strokes the man's back in a slow fashion. "Can you please show me?"

Reginald takes a deep breath as he takes Liara's hand into his own and places their paws onto his head.

/.../

Liara woke up with a startle in the morning, she did not expect Reginald to be lying across her mid section and she certainly did not realise that Reginald or herself could fall asleep in the position he was currently in. Bending slightly over she gently shakes Reginald's shoulder. Its roughly half a minute before Reginald awakens. As he pushes him self up he comes aware of the body that was lying under his own, and Liara's voice speaking. "I told you I was going to stay so you didn't need to lie on me to keep me here."

Reginald retreats to his own side of the bed however rests his head on Liara's upper chest "Sorry but you know I'm a heavy sleeper." As Reginald talked he listened to her slow powerful heart beat and slowly wrapped her in his arms.

After pulling the blankets back up to cover the two of them Liara spoke. "We must get up soon. I'm not sure how the Cititdel will take to a ship as heavily armed as this bird docking in the civilian ports. They will also probably have a problem with our identity tags but we can overcome that if it comes to it."

After a long time of no response Liara decided to take matters into her own hands, slowly lowering her hands down to his sides she utilised a small weakness the man had, the touch of another. Placing her hands on his sides she starts to gently tickle the mans waist, this sent his nervous system into overdrive. The small sensation that was rarely felt by the man caused him to shoot up onto his feet. "What the hell was that?"

Liara raised her two hands. "My gentle touch. And now your up I suggest we take a shower."

/.../

As Reginald cooked some food he couldn't stop thinking of the shower that Liara was involved with, to himself a shower was a quick job that was more of a chore, something that should consume as little time as possible and be done in the most efficient manner that one could achieve, however what just occurred was far from efficient, if anything it quadrupled the time required to do the task.

Meanwhile Liara quietly entered Aurora's temporary accommodation. The girl was still asleep, but for her age one could not blame her. It is not unusual for Humans of equivalent age to sleep for more than 12 hours so why should Asari be any different? Liara sat on the dormant child's bed before giving her a shake. After a third futile attempt to wake her daughter she results to pulling the quilt off the bed, this small act made the child sit up straight. "Mother!" After gaining her senses she talks again. "I'm sorry, what time is it?"

"Time to get up, now come on I'm sure you don't want the guys to see you in such a state. I had Place grab some of your clothes before she left and one or two other things. Get cleaned and I'll fetch them."

Aurora hugs her mother before slowly laying back down. "I can spare a minute. And thanks Mom."

Shaking her head Liara responds. "Oh and do you think the beds are too soft? Too comfortable?"

Aurora looks up. "Err just right why?"

Liara rolls her eyes. "Great, if they are just right people will stay in bed longer and avoid their shifts. Anyway, I'll be back."

/.../

Reginald and Lee were both sat in the cockpit, both looked puzzled at the signal they were receiving from the Citidel. After a while of musing between themselves Reginald finally asks the AI for its analysis of the signal. "Ok AI, We give up, what is it?"

"It is a request to identify the vessel, The reason you do not recognise this code is because it was designed to fool Reapers into revealing their true identities. The result of Titans assault on the city." Regianld scratches the back of his head not entirely sure what to do.

Lee however was the first to speak. "Err, any ideas on what they want. I mean should we wave out the cockpit window or something?"

"Negative, we will need to identify ourselves as either a military vessel or a vessel carrying somebody of great importance."

Lee looks at the AI's orb. "Hell, we are important."

Reginald shakes his head. "Will my old Council Agent code work?"

"It is possible."

"Ah, worth a shot, get in touch or do what ever you need to do in order for me to give it up."

After a short stint of silence a voice comes across the internal speakers. "Un-identified vessel, cease your vectored approach and prepare to be boarded."

Reginald raises an eyebrow. "This is Eagle Claw, identity code 4V42Q212A74B. Requesting you override your last command."

"Please hold while we confirm your identity." Regiand turns to Lee and gives a shrug of his shoulders. "Records indicate Agent 821V went missing in combat 89 years ago. Disengage your vectored approach and prepare for an inspection team to investigate your vessel.

Reginald releases a sigh. "Overide that last command, emergency code Zulu 322 Foxtrott # 89 ! JF2 £$ Queensland."

"Negative. Disengage your approach and prepare to be boarded."

Regianld terminates the call. "Well, that went well. AI get me Liara."

/.../

"Right you make up loving bitches, we have been told to intercept this vessel and look for this target, he is supposed to be some old bag of bones if not dead and we are to be extremely trigger happy towards this SOB." The Captain of the small crew sent to dock with the unknown vessel was an old experienced marine, he had the respect of his men and the skills of entire army. He was often referred to by his team as the one man army.

As the ship carrying the crew got closer some of the marines started to look out of a small window and chat to one another quietly, before long they are getting dragged back to their seats by the old Captain. "Your talking like little girls, crikey even Higgs is white. What is it?"

One of the younger crew men speaks up. "Have you seen that vessel? They have sent a sheep against a Thresher maw. Who exactly do we have to take down?"

"Just some name lieutenant. And they have sent a sheep with big teeth and sharp sticks. Now I'm sure we have a tactical unit on board but it certainly doesn't feel like it."

Another one of the marines speaks up. "What's the name?"

The Captain shrugs slightly. "All I was told was Reginald. He was supposed to be some big shot 90 years back."

Another one of the marines speaks up. "There was some Council agent 90 years back called Reginald something, supposed to of been one hell of a mean bastard, got that bitch called Aria, the Blue suns and the blood packs. Then went missing with out a trace when he chased down that massive Geth ship."

One of his fellow marines bash the man over the head with his fist. "Geth my Turian arse. Not even they had that technology."

The Captian bashes both the men over their heads. "Shut up and prepare to board. If it is supposed to be this big shot lets make sure we don't give him a chance to try anything."

/.../

Reginald was stood in the airlock waiting for the team that was there to inspect the vessel to board, despite Liara wanting to send Place in his place. He chose not to take any fire arms with him, deciding that killing a few council workers was not the best way to introduce the SR-4 to the galaxy. Liara and the others meanwhile were waiting in the cockpit where if things did go wrong was heavily defended.

As the two airlocks entangled and the doors started to open Reginald was caught off guard as a bunch of marines had guns pointed in his direction, however they very quickly dropped them and raised their hands in the air. Turning around Reginald understood why, AI deployed the 12 turrets, he thanked his lucky stars Liara had this small feature added to the SR-4. Turning around he speaks up. "So who sent you?"

The captain of the team was the one to reply. "Are you Reginald?"

The man standing before them scratches his head. "Great. AI, what are these guns capable of?" Reginald knew exactly what they were capable of, however he just wanted to show the marines how fucked they were if they tried anything.

The globe appears before its response is made. "The turrets are capable of firing high explosive rounds at a rate of 400 bullets per minute, would you like a demonstration?"

The captain of the marines stood bold as he made his vocal chords work. "If we are harmed you will have to answer directly to the council."

Reginald leans against a wall and rubs his forehead. "I already do. Now who sent you?"

"I am not at liberty to say."

Reginald releases a deep sigh and contemplated whether a demonstration would change the Captains mind. "AI demonstrate the guns." one of the guns trained its sights from the marines and onto a steel bulk head of the marines vessel, the bang from the gun firing was nearly deafening and the marines each fell to the floor as the blast from the round caused a small shock wave. "AI, why did you do that on a bulkhead?"

The globe pulsed as it responded. "I am sorry, did you wish for a demonstration on a live subject?"

"Yes, but never mind now. That should of done the trick." Reginald was right, the captain was not going to let his crew die over a single name, even if it was one of the highest ranking Councillors to compile the mission.

As the Captain stood he coughed on the smoke before speaking. "Let my team leave and you can have the name."

Reginald nodded his head. "Kick your guns onto my ship and they can leave. If you test me Captain I can assure you your team will not survive. And if your team radio's for support, well, your vessel will be missed." The man nods his head sullenly as he commands his team to leave without their weapons or performing any other action. "Now Captain, the name."

"Councillor Tevos."

"Your Orders."

"Intercept some guy called Reginald and terminate the subject with any other on-board passengers."

Reginald walks up to the airlock controls. "Your vessel will stay docked with our own till I deal with this problem, your crew will not be harmed and you are not to perform any hostile actions or indicate your predicament to your CO. Understood?" The man nods his head, however this was a ruse, he would try everything up his sleeve to tell command of his position and to take over the ship that his own was currently docked with. "Excellent. AI hack their onboard computer, make sure they don't try anything." Reginald shuts the airlock after he spoke and locks it, turning around he makes his way back to Liara.

/.../

Liara was filled with Rage with the entire event that just unfolded, and at Tevos for ordering a Hit on a man who saved her life multiple times. "AI, do I have any infiltrators on the Cititdel?"

The orb popped up along the side of the wall. "Affirmative."

It had been along time since Liara ordered a hit and flexed her muscle but now was as good as a time as ever to get back into the habit. "Order the most reliable agent to dispose of Councillor Tevos. Make it look natural."

"Yes Liara."

Reginald walks behind the fuming Asari and rubs her tensed shoulders in a slow circular pattern in an attempt to calm her down.

/.../

"Captain you may want to see this." The marines were all gathered around a small terminal on board the vessel.

As the captain approached the monitor he gained sight of the same man that just caused his team to lose their weapons and get shot at with explosive rounds. "So who is he?"

One of the marines scroll's the page down some more. "We don't know, his full name is classified beyond our authorisation. But from the looks of things he isn't somebody to mess with." as the marine scrolled down the page their was operation after operation of known missions the man was involved with. "He certainly isn't a push over."

After another page of operations the list ends, after that everything just had 'classified' labelled over the top and permission to access the page was denied. This prompted the Captain to turn to the earlier marine who knew about Reginald "Ok marine, you seemed to know something about this guy, what do you know?"

The marine shrugs his shoulders. "Not much, just that he rarely failed a mission and he was brutal in combat, I mean we play dirty but this guy wrote the books, to kill one man there is a recoded mission where he gassed an entire colony. More than 400 dead. The last recorded incident with the man was with that ship called Titan."

The captain pushes a few of his marines out the way as he studies the monitor. "How the hell did the Council hire him then? I thought they had to be fair in combat and uphold the law."

"Ill put it like this captain. They called him a ghost in combat, went through entire military bases with just three men at his side. People only knew he passed through the day after when the person he was their to kill was dead or the base was destroyed. They hired him apparently because they needed somebody who was willing to do the dirty work and handy with a gun."

"Even ghosts can be killed Jimmy and that seems a little off, Council needing somebody to do some dirty work."

Jimmy shakes his head. "The galaxy was more violent 90 years back, desperate times required desperate actions also he should be nearly 120, now if you find out what anti-ageing cream he uses please tell me."

The captain sits back in the chair. "True and he did look young. But I am willing to bet a bullet will take him down." Standing up he turns to his men. "Right, I want an inventory check, I want to know what guns we have in storage and the number of bullets for each weapon, Dick, I want a full tactical analysis of that ship on my desk in five, Lope get on investigating a way to tell Command of our position without them finding out that we are crying for help. Jimmy, see what else you can pull up on this crackpot. Lulk were going to find a way past those turrets. And one last thing. He has made his AI hack our computers, all work is to be done offline."

* * *

Thanks for reading.


	5. Reunion

"Captain, their ship is a fortress, even if we did have a tactical nuke on board we aren't breaking into their hull, if we do manage to escape it has enough fire power to reduce us to our building blocks and we probably don't even have enough juice to drain it's shields." The old man lay back on his chair and rotated from side to side.

"Dick, are you trying to tell me that there is next to nothing we can do to get into that ship?" The silent nod of the man confirmed his answer. "Can we outrun it?"

Yet again there was silent motion from the man's head. "It has far superior technology, my bets are it isn't designed to destroy anything as weak as this vessels so I wouldn't even think about it."

The old man raised two hands to his face and rubbed his eyes in a circular manner with the ball of his palm. "Me and Lulk had no success with the turrets either. When it fired into the bulk head it disintegrated 2 inches of Tungsten carbonate alloy, we would need a crane to lift enough material to protect us from 12 of them." Just as the captain finished there was a knock on his private cabins door. "Come in."

Jimmy walked in and stood in front of the Captains desk. "Captain if ghost aren't real he is sure as hell one of the closest thing we can get too them."

The captain releases a large sigh. "How come?"

Jimmy relaxed as he started to tell what he found. "The only thing the net knows is that he is called Reginald, disposed of a few big time crooks, headed the resistance against Titan and one or two other missions the Council de-classified. Other than that there is nothing, no second name, no family history, no date of birth, no location of residency no past military or mercenary recruitments. The only thing I did find out was that once he went MIA someone took control of everything he owned and this kid is even more of a ghost than Reginald. All I could find out was that who ever it is gained a massive gun collection."

"So we have no idea who we are up against."

Jimmy nods his head. "Yeah, oh and I found one other thing, it claims it is his training regime but I don't know, seems too far fetched."

The captain released a short laugh. "Far fetched? Ha, let me hear it."

Jimmy takes a deep breath. "Instead of training on a simulated battlefield he has been known to visit war zones and complete the tasks militarises on that planet were given by their generals before the army located there could achieve the task. In order to gain endurance he often went training in the desert, northern green land or some other inhospitable location with only emergency rations and a hunting knife. In the weapon department he surprisingly is supposed to be master shot who favours old earth assault riffles in battle, because and I quote, the bang of the weapons played with his foe's mind."

The old captain was shaking his head. "No chance."

"I dont know but, Sir, no offence, I believe in your capabilities but we are out of our depth, we are up against some beyond elite soldier, not some smugglers or gang members."

"Yes, that we are. Anyhow I've had word from the boss. Tell the men to stand down, get comfy and to wait this out."

/.../

"Don't pull the trigger, slowly squeeze it, treat it with respect and love." Reginald was in the Armoury giving his daughter lessons on firing weapons. The gun in Auroras hand right now was just a small air rifle but it was still powerful for a girl of her age. The Asari took her time lining her sight up with the target, as soon as the iron sights was hovering over the bullseye she squeezed the trigger to find nothing happened. Lowering the gun she inspects the ammo cartridge but finds its nearly full, next she checks the barrel for jams but it was clear. "Remember my first rule regarding the safety pin." Aurora cursed herself for forgetting the small little button, pushed it and raised the gun back to eye level. After she slowly aimed her sights and squeezed the trigger she found the bullet went multiple inches off target. "So where did you go wrong?"

Aurora lowered the weapon as she spoke. "Erm, did I squeeze the trigger too quickly?"

Reginald shakes his head. "You need to tame your breathing, take long deep breaths and fire on your empty lungs between breaths."

As Aurora once more raises her weapon Liara makes her way into the armoury, takes a quick glance at her child before proceeding to Reginald. "Tevos will no longer be a problem." as she spoke Aurora let another little projectile fly from the barrel of the gun.

Reginald observed as he spoke to Aurora "Better, do it again." Lowering his voice he replies to the second Asari. "Right, so how do we dock with out being shot at?"

Liara was quick to reply. "Before she passed away I made sure my agent forced her to verify our identity tags and call off her little hit squad connected to our vessel."

"Excellent, so why did she target us?"

The Asari hummed and hawed for a short while before forming a response. "I genuinely do not know."

After Liara spoke their was another projectile sent flying. "Yep, your getting the hang of it now. So, what do we do with our friends?"

Liara scratched the crown of her head. "Set them free, as much as it pains me to say it but they were just following orders set by Tevos. Also Reginald, be kind to the Captain."

"How come."

Liara walked up to Reginald and whispered down his ear. "After looking him up, out of all people he is the father of a very close friend of Aurora's."

"Well, I wasn't expecting that. I'll go and settle terms with that Captain and you can keep an eye on her."

Liara retreated from the man's ear and laid a kiss on his cheek. "Be careful and come back soon." Reginald instead of returning the gesture to Liara just give her a small smile before heading out the door. Liara smiled at this her self, she knew the man meant well, but could not fully show it yet. After Aurora fired another shot Liara spoke to her child. "So do you think you are as good as your mother yet?"

"Probably not, why?"

Liara turned around to the table and picked up another air riffle. "Reginald may know how to fire a weapon, but if you want fun you need some competition. If you beat me I'll let you get a pet, but if I beat you then you will cook our tea tonight, deal?"

/.../

Reginald collected each of the weapons kicked onto the SR-4 into a large cargo bag and stood waiting for the old captain to open his side of the air lock, Reginald told him to come alone and un-armed, as the doors started to open the twelve turrets started to deploy however once he confirmed the man had followed orders he give the command for the AI to stand down. "Here is your belongings."

Reginald passed the bag over to the captain who took them and placed them down on his side of the air lock. "You know, my men look up to you, they have no idea who you really are but you can tell they are inspired."

The hardened warrior is a little taken back by the captain. "Tell them they shouldn't be, I'm just some marine who knows how to pull a trigger."

The captain breathes heavily out of his nostrils as he shakes his head in an exaggerated manner. "Don't kid your self, your not a marine, your a different breed, something that has a thirst for war and weaponry. True marines hate their job."

"Captain, your vessel is free to go, but be warned that this is a vessel for war and it doesn't fly under colours, I do not take to unwanted boarding parties kindly."

"And your AI?"

"AI, delete your programme from their systems."

The AI's globe formed on the wall once more. "Affirmative."

Reginald turns back to the Captain. "There is no more to be said here, enjoy the rest of your life." Despite saying this in a manner to depict that they would never meet again, Reginald knew the likely hood of meeting again was high if his daughter truly was a close friend of Aurora's.

As the human turns to walk away the captain spoke once more. "No, there is. Thank you for not just massacring us in the airlock, I know you wouldn't of cared over the consequence or repercussions."

Reginald turned around. "Don't think it didn't cross my mind. Now leave before I regret my decisions."

/.../

"Lee, dock 4." Reginald returned to the cockpit after his encounter with the captain.

Lee turns in his chair. "Aye, but are we now certified for docking?"

"Apparently so."

Lee turns back to his controls and starts to work. "Thank the stars for that, I am dying from irish thirst here."

"Yeah, as soon as we dock I'm getting this boat filled with the good stuff." Reginald had also been feeling the urge also but so far it had managed to stay under his control. "Oh and how you going to get the stuff down your neck with Rumra by your side?"

"A great magician never reveals his secrets." a small laugh released with this comment would make any observer think there was an evil scheme brewing.

"Good luck then." Reginald turned and left for the armoury.

/.../

"Ha mother, you owe me one pet." The smile that was spread across the face of Aurora was contagious to Liara.

"So what are you thinking of?" was returned in the child's direction.

Aurora brainstormed for ideas of pets that would horrify her mother. "A Varren would be cool, or a Bengal tiger."

Liara frantically searched her brain for a response to that. "Aren't Bengal Tigers on the endangered species lists and Varren are quite dirty animals."

Aurora gained a smirk. "You said anything I wanted."

"Fine."

"Wow, Really?" Aurora could not work out if her mother was being serious or not.

After retrieving the two targets Liara spoke. "I gained 51 points, and yourself 53"

These results was slightly disappointing to Aurora. "Hmm, Reginald gained 89 with just three shots and from an additional 20 meters back."

After taking the two guns and placing them on the table Liara responded to her child. "Trust me, that was him going soft, when he competed with Jack he surpassed 160 on three shots from a distance of 70 meters with no bipod or laser sights. But hey, considering this is your first time and the training he actually does to achieve good results these are good for us two."

/.../

After the uniquely event-less docking Liara give her daughter enough credits to have a good day or three out while the old team re-unites, agent Place was ordered to do her usual job with Aurora, protect and satisfy every need she may acquire. As they walk down one of the many thousand shopping streets both of the Asari stop in their tracks as Aurora's name was called out from behind. Turning around Aurora spots a younger student she had befriended from Thrisk College running towards her. As the Asari approaches Place starts to check her out, making sure that nothing was out of order however she relaxes when Aurora greets her with with a brace and passionate kiss. "It's good to see you!"

"And yourself."

It was a small time before Aurora ended the brace, however once they were no longer together the younger Asari took Aurora's hand into her own as they walked side by side, Place following closely behind. "So what has brought you down to this place?"

"My Mom is here visiting my dad but he was called onto a mission about six hours ago. Anyway How are you doing Remin?"

Place stepped forward in order to reply to Amber. "Same old, yourself?"

"Never better." After the greeting was over Aurora got back down to business. "So are you up to anything particular?"

"I was going to see that new Commando film with my mam, you can come if you wish." Aurora flicked a quick glance over place who give a small nod.

After Place's conformation Aurora responded. "Sure, why not?"

"It's with my mom."

A shrug of shoulders was Aurora's initial reply to that. "Doesn't bother me, your mam knows who we are and we know your mam."

/.../

"Bloody hell Hodgins, your still looking as dapper as ever"

Hodgins slowly raised a walking stick and shook it at Lee, whether the shaking was because his muscles were losing the fight against the artificial gravity pulling his stick down or not is any ones guess. "Don't make me wallop your ass with this, this look can't be defined with words."

Lee nudged Reginald before whispering quietly. "I see he still has his head stuck high up his arse." Fortunately for Lee, Hodgins had lost a lot of his hearing capabilities with his age so did not hear the comment.

After Lee's comment Reginald spoke. "Come on then you old git, are you getting on or not?" Reginald raised his voice in order for Hodgins to hear him.

Dec patted the old guy on the back once he approached the gap between the dock and the airlock, he himself was looking old and weathered. "Take your time with the step old man, don't want to give yourself a heart attack." Despite it being a joke poking fun at the man's frail state all participants at the reunion knew there was truth behind the statement. The man was on deaths door.

As soon as the man was on board the SR-4 Liara approached and pulled the man into a small embrace. "Long time no see." The man returned the gesture before making his vocal chords work. "We were talking yesterday. You were at my house." Liara looked to Reginald then flashed a look to Rumra, she knew he had dementia but did not realise how far the disease had developed.

"Come on then, I'll help you to the armoury." As Hodgins left with Liara Dec spoke up.

"If I get like that I give you permission to put a bullet in my cranium."

"Well, we are going to the Armoury, what gun would you prefer? A claymore?" This comment of Lee's only made the Krogan grunt as he too boarded the vessel. As the Krogan started to greet the doctor EDI and Pebble left the turbo lift that took them to the dock of the Normandy and made the 20 meter or so walk to the air lock. EDI's mechanical body looked identical to the old days and Pebble was still looking like she was no more than 100 years of age. "EDI, Pebble." Reginald was the first to make contact.

Unusually Pebble managed to respond before the AI could. "It's good to see you alive again."

EDI followed Pebble. "Greetings. Garrick asked me to tell you that due to unforeseen circumstances that he could not attend."

Reginald scratched his head as he responded. "Ah well, And I think we owe you a thanks for getting our vessel back to civilization."

As EDI and Pebble boarded the vessel she spoke once more. "It really wasn't a problem, although this platform did suffer some dependency issues for the first few years that it was isolated from the SR-2."

"Well, your alive, or your own definition of it so lets get down to business."

/.../

Once the film finished Aurora and Place was invited by Ambers mother to get something to eat and to meet her father for the first time at a small restaurant, as they still had an hour to spare before Liara wanted her back Aurora accepted the invite. When the man walked into the restaurant neither Aurora or Place noticed who the man was. Sitting down and shaking the girls' hand was the Old Captain. The chances of Aurora falling for a girl with the father of the man Reginald just had a confrontation with was one in a trillion but it happened. As the small group stood to leave after the meal the Captain spoke to Aurora and Remin.

"So, where are you staying?"

"My parents have a vessel docked."

The captain nodded his head. "Cool, so which port?"

"3, dock 4"

The old captain's heart nearly stopped, that was exactly the same port the ship he was sent after docked with, however he had to be sure that the girl sitting in front of him was from that vessel, she could of always got her docks and ports mixed up right? "So how are you getting back?"

Aurora shrugged. "Walk I suppose."

The captain utilised this opportunity in order to find out for sure if the child sitting in front of him was somebody who he should gain some immediate concern over. "I'll walk you back, its getting late and two young Asari are the perfect prey for sexual predators."

Place glanced at Aurora. "I'm sure it's alright Mr Row. Its just about a km up the road."

The man shook his head. "None-sense. Presides our accommodation is just past the docks."

/.../

Before the elevator arrived at Port 3 Amber pulled slightly on Aurora's shirt. Aurora turned around to face her. "Uh hu?"

The girl was fiddling with her hands slightly. "I am going swimming tomorrow if you are interested?"

Aurora furiously nodded her head. "Yes! Erm what time?" Place would of released a small groan to this comment if she was not in company, it was a small secret that she could not swim and she was sure it was one of the only things Liara did not know about her.

Ambers mother answered for her. "11 am, Why don't you bring Liara?"

"Yeah, good idea."

When the doors opened to reveal the SR-4 dock and the bird her self Archers heart missed a beat and his eyes dilated, the girl that his own daughter was dating was somebody he should be very cautious of. However right now his mind was searching for ways to get this girl to reveal it's secrets "That is one nice ship, so what is she capable of?"

Aurora knew that her mother would be furious if she give any details of its inner hardware. "Quite a bit, anyway we must be off." Aurora and Place stepped out of the elevator. "I will see you tomorrow then?"

As soon as they got on board Aurora went straight to find her parents, after checking the main entertainment lounge and finding no body there she turned to AI. "AI, where are my parents?"

The AI's globe formed on the wall next to her. "Liara and Reginald are both in the Primary Armoury with Dune, Lee, EDI, Hodgins and Deccom."

Aurora remembering her mothers restrictions on her access to the armoury turned back to the AI "Can you tell them that I have come home?"

The AI's orb pulsed as it formed its response. "Affirmative Mrs T'soni."

"Thanks AI."

/.../

"EDI, the offer for your system to be in control of this ship is still open." Liara had been pestering EDI to take the role all night however she refused every time.

"Liara, I refuse for one reason, this isn't a ship I can call home, it has one purpose and that isn't peace." EDI's response came at the same pace as all other AI's, instantaneous.

"And the SR-2 wasn't?"

EDI shook her mechanical head. "No, it's design was a joint effort between the Turians and Humans, its sole purpose was to be a peace bearing vessel."

"The SR-1 was the joint effort and I'm sorry to say this but the SR-2 was designed to fight the Collectors and Reapers, your programme it's self is the Enhanced Defence Intelligence. EDI. Your programme's sole purpose was to guide and protect a ship at war."

EDI was about to respond however the on board AI formed on the wall next to Liara and spoke. "Liara, your daughter has asked my programme to inform you she has safely returned from her day out."

"Excellent, is she coming down?"

"Negative, she is currently located in entertainment suite 1 accessing the entertainment systems."

Liara stood up after excusing herself from the reunion, as she walked out of the armoury Place was just about to enter, however stops and looks at her for a short while, Liara noticing her anticipation to speak talks first. "Are you all right?."

"Yes, I believe your daughter has a girl friend." Place hated stabbing her friend and employee's daughter in the back like this but it was in her contract that she needed to inform Liara of any overly intimate relation's Aurora made and she had seen many times before what happened to people who got into Liara's bad books.

After checking for her daughter Liara spoke quietly. "Thank you for telling me, do you have a name?"

"Amber Row."

"Mrs Rows child?"

Place placed two hands behind her back. "Yes."

"I thought they were just very close friends, how can you tell they are together?"

"Holding hands, intimate acts towards one another, general close contact and the invitation to swimming tomorrow."

"Very well and I know of your little problem so I'll take care of that. I suppose you can have tomorrow off and there are still drinks going if you want any, you know the old crew right?" After place responded Liara left to find Aurora and Place entered the armoury.

/.../

"Sung, we have to stop our daughter seeing that other child." Archer had remained wary all night, scared for his family and now in bed alone with his wife he finally decided to talk on what was running amok in his mind.

"How come? They seem happy together." Archer accepted this fact, he was happy that his daughter found happiness in another but still scared for her safety.

"The ship I was sent to investigate to day is the same one Aurora got on tonight. The problem is who else is on that vessel, who she knows and the fact her so called sister was actually carrying a handgun strapped to her back and had a small wire on her. My bets are that she was actually a body guard."

"I didn't notice a weapon or wire and who should we be concerned about?"

"The Council agent on board. Not somebody who you anger which I might of done and when you have been in my profession for the time I have you learn to spot somebody who is concealing a weapon."

"Archer, this girl makes Amber happy, you are not going to take that away from her. Tomorrow I am meeting her mother again and I can assure you she is not somebody we should be worrying about."

"And who is her father?"

"Some human, Amber said his name was Reginald, I don't know anything other than that."

"Oh shit."

"Language."

"Sung, her father is that council agent, the one that fought Titan and committed atrocities in order to kill one man. He is also the one that I may of angered."

Sung turned the bed side lamp on and sat up in the bed. "And if he know what is best for his child I am sure he will not kill his child's girlfriends father."

Archer followed in pursuit of his wife and also sat up. "Do you really think a man that can commit atrocities would care about killing one man or family?"

"No, but we are not just any ordinary family. We have links to his daughter that he can not ignore." Sung turned the lamp off and laid back down in bed. "And I am telling you not to break her relationship up. She has been through so much in her life that she needs some happiness."

/.../

Reginald had awoken before any other living member on the Normandy, after the amount he consumed last night this was quite an achievement. It was also an achievement to get off the bed and to perform any bodily requirements his body had with out waking Liara. However he did slowly wake her before he left, his method to wake the Asari was the same method she used on himself earlier, a slow shake on the shoulder. Liara's eyes shot open instantly. After releasing a groan and raising a hand to cover her eyes from the light she spoke. "What are you doing up?"

"I've agreed to meet the Human ambassador to discuss what happened after I destroyed the relay and locking myself in a derelict part of space with Titan. Also to hand over the SR-2 sensor data from our long journey back to civilization and officially regain my council status from the council."

Liara rolled over. "Fine, just remember to be there at 11."

"I'll be slightly late, but should get there." The man left after rubbing her arm slightly and pulling the quilt back up to cover her bare back.

/.../

"Reginald, in order to clerify your Council status you need to perform two tasks, if you accomplish them successfully you're status will be re-affirmed. Do you accept the terms?" Reginald was willing to complete the tasks, he did not know what to expect but knew they would be controversial to say the least.

"I accept."

"Excellent. Your fist test is to terminate a random citizen of our choice, please remain facing forward till the test is under way." It was another 30 seconds before the councillors spoke again. "Are you equipped with the fire arm we supplied earlier?"

Before Reginald was allowed into the Councillor's chambers he was stripped of his own firearms and instead given a one of their own while he was in the presence of the council. "Affirmative."

"Excellent. Turn around and proceed using the supplied weapon."

"Using a gun loaded with blanks?" Reginald had been up to his usual tricks and studied the gun that was handed to him, inside and out before the councillors invited him into their chambers.

The eight councillors looked at one another. "It appears the test parameters have changed."

"It appears so."

"Can you please turn around." Reginald did as asked and witnessed a young human child no more than five years of age before he turned back to face the councillors.

"You provided me with a gun to terminate a child? It seems like a waste of resources." Despite not performing the act this was the response that the council was searching for, the ability to kill or in this rare case think about the act which would raise ethical issues in all others.

"Your response is satisfactory. For the final test we are going to examine your ability to endure pain and keep a simple code to yourself. The theory is that if you can endure the pain you can endure torture if captured." Reginald shook his head.

"Have any of your been tortured before? It's not pain that causes people to talk its the mental anguish, It's not something that can be done over half an hour with applied pain and check your records, I have a clean history."

"We do not refute this, however 90 years is a long time to change. Actually now this has come to light before we give you back your powers we need to know how you are alive and are currently in a fit shape. If you aged naturally you should be deceased."

Reginald raised a hand to the back of his head, thinking furiously for a method on how he come to be brought back to life and in such a fit shape without including the shadow broker or Reaper device. "Well..."

* * *

Thanks for reading.

On another note I will try to push out a chapter a week but I have some things running over the next month which must take priority, so I can not make any promises on publishing a chapter on a regular basis. Sorry.


	6. Chapter 6

Liara was sat in the shallow end of the pool with the water up to her shoulders as she watched Aurora and Amber chasing after each other in deeper parts of the pool, her focus is only distracted when Sung Row speaks. "So, how is work going?"

The second Asari did not know of Liara's true job, instead when she asked Liara told her she specialised in logistics. "The past week has been rather exciting to be honest, the events have made a few critical changes to my life. How about your own job?"

"The study of tectonic quakes and disaster management used to have it's day but now we are stuck in an office and I don't believe I'm saying this but begging for something to go wrong." Liara turned to the woman.

"How come?"

"We rarely have any problems or construct new settlements these days that office hours are long and boring. I would leave planet for a more industrial world but I'm not prepared just to leave her on her own."

Liara thought about this comment for a small time before compiling her response. "Can you not work for other worlds from the safety of your house on Thessia?"

Sung sighed deeply. "Job interviews are mid week and usually consume a week of my time for transport and the like. I wouldn't want to leave her on her own for that time. And then there are times where you have to visit a site as you need to be their and experience the location to know what you are working with, yet again that will consume another week if not more of my time for every site I need to visit. I would get Archer to come back from the Citidel but you know what the Council is like."

Liara looked away from Sung and to the two younger Asari who were still chasing each other in deeper water, after observing her child Interact with Amber for a while longer she spoke once more. "Yes I do and if you really want to go for an interview I am sure I could look after Amber for a week or two, just give me a call then if you do get the job I'm sure I could look after Amber when you are off world."

There was a flash of excitement run through Sung's body at this thought however it quickly subsides. "I wouldn't want to burden you."

Liara turns from watching the two younger Asari. "Sung, if you find a job you are interested in ring me. Believe me when I say Amber wont be a burden."

/.../

Archer was watching the pool from a reclusive corner in the spectators seating, he could see large majorities of the pool including the woman talking to his wife but he was located so that in his current location he was hard to see from the pool side. The man thought that he would be safe in this location however his heart misses a beat and his breathing stops as a voice originates from behind. "Captain." Reginald spotted him as he scouted the area out before entering the pool relatively unarmed with his daughter and partner.

Archer turned around immediately, from initial glimpse the Council agent standing in front of him was unarmed however after a more in depth observation with a trained eye it was clear he was actually heavily armed, possibly more so than a marine who was ready to fight a war. "Reginald."

The man nodded and walked to his side. "I am prepared to call a truce on their sake, I don't care who you are or what you do, just them two down there."

"Unfortunately I can't say the same, all that I know is that your somebody to be wary of."

Reginald knew this to be true, when the man turned around he noticed his pupils dilate and his breathing hasten. This caused Reginald to release a small smile for a fraction of a second "Just how I like it. But captain, I don't take to hostilities on myself lightly, on those I care for it's another matter indeed."

The old captain did not refute this fact. "Then you understand my fear and will to protect Amber."

"Yes, but if any one was to hurt Amber and in result upset Aurora I can guarantee you life for the perpetrator will be something no longer worth living for."

"Then it will be a truce." The captain offered his hand out to Reginald however the agent refused the gesture as it was common practice to not shake hands as a council agent, something Reginald learned the hard way.

"You know we don't shake hands and you should also know a promise made by an agent for the council isn't something to be taken lightly, so I will promise a truce."

/.../

Liara watched as her man entered the pool side area, as he approached the pool she couldn't tear her eyes from his athletic form, his body had the right balance between muscle and the capability for endurance, because of this small ratio his body also has very low fat levels, Rumra once estimated it at one point to be less than 4% and nearly forced him onto a fatty diet. As he approached Liara observed something small strapped around his ankle, initially she thought it was just the key for a locker however as he got closer it came clear that it was actually a small knife. After Rolling her eyes at his incapacity to be unarmed for 2 seconds she wafts him over to meet Sung.

/.../

As Reginald swam back and forth up the lanes after meeting Ambers mother he thought back to his initial recruitment into the Council, his first week was one of the most enduring and grueling few days he ever sustained, after all they had to filter out those who were not agent worthy. The more he swum up and down the more he thought of that gruelling week and the speech made by his recruiting officer to all who managed to survive the fist week. The officer was a Turian of medium years, probably no more than 60. "Congratulations. You have survived and endured the first week of your new lives. From this day forth none of you exist, you will each chose a new name, you will never bond with another or have children, instead you will marry the Council, you will raise it and defend it till the day you perish. Your actions will be dedicated to its will, we will train you to become the elite, to be the ones that dare in the face of terrine and death, there will never be an enemy too great, a foe to powerful or a situation you can't handle. You are the councils spear and shield and you will not yield. Once again, congratulations." His mind darts from this speech to his current situation, how had he changed from the man dedicated to this code to the man he is today, some one with a partner and child, someone who was working with and dating the shadow broker. The key was Liara, she was the catalyst for his evolution from dedicated council agent to some how improvised family man, as he thought about his evolution his mind shoots back once more to how he met Liara.

"Do you have our assignment?" The Councillor speaking was one of the most valued members of the council and by this time Reginald was one of the only surviving elite agents.

"Yes."

"Then you know the risks." For the target Reginald was assigned if he didn't know the risks he shouldn't of been an Agent.

"Affirmative, do we have any other data on the target?"

"Negative, all we know is that it's called the shadow broker and owns a large organisation. Expect any species or gender."

"Extreme prejudice?"

"Yes."

"Will there be any assets supplied?"

"No. Your team will be on its own. Upon completion you will receive the normal."

"Then permission to recruit a new team member."

The Councillor scrolled through the data pad in front of him containing all the information known on Reginald's team. "What speciality do you desire?"

"Logistics and Information. Usually I am supplied with more than ample data to complete the job however this time we know very little. An information expert will decrease the time to identify the target."

"Permission granted."

Reginald left the conversation with no more words spoken, the meeting was short, too the point and blunt, just how he liked meetings to go. Seconds after leaving the meeting he got straight to work by looking up several intelligence officers on the extranet, after a small time he had fine combed three potential candidates, little did he know then that he was about to recruit the very person he was hired to kill.

The first meeting between himself and Liara was set in a club on the Citidel, the man took Lee with him to the first encounter and neither one of them initially approached Liara when they entered the night club, instead they observed her from a short distance, tried to figure her out, see if she was a person to be cautious of or some one of substantial material. After a while of discussing between themselves Lee eventually made the deciding comment. "Look, that other guy is good but she is supposed to be just as good and comes with a dam fine rear. The least you can do is approach her and give her the initial test, if she passes that then my vote is on her."

After downing the rest of his drink Reginald stands up. "Then if you want her rear wish her luck." With that he approached the Asari for the very first time.

/.../

6 weeks and 1 day later after resurrection.

Liara left Reginald and Lee working at her home mansion while she left to pick up her daughter and Amber after Sung eventually called her. Reginald was nursing his latest purchase, an old Napoleon era Baker rifle back to life and Lee on the other hand was working on the SR4 that was parked behind Liara's mansion. After a second more in depth test flight in which all systems were powered and used a minimum of 20 times he had found a problem with some unwanted ionisation compromising the effective thrust of the fine control manoeuvring systems, something that the man was more than happy to fix, after all he got to spend more time on his dream vessel.

As Liara landed the skycar outside Thrisk college Aurora and Amber left the building hands locked and walking side by side, the instant Amber gained sight of the car Liara was piloting she nearly stopped in her tracks. "That's one neat ride."

Aurora slowly turned her head. "Are you wanting to stare at it or ride in it?"

Amber did not understand. "Sorry, what?" She had not seen Liara in the driving seat from admiring the vehicle and the tinted glass.

"Come on." Aurora walked up to the car and opened the back door, much to the horror of Amber.

"What in the name are you doing?"

Aurora turned back to her lover. "Getting in my car, are you coming?"

"You own a Rolls?"

"Well, my mam does." With this comment Aurora clambers into the vehicle leaving Amber starring at the car in disbelief. After a while the younger Asari took a few nervous steps towards the door before she was greeted by Liara. "Hello Amber. I don't bite."

After Liara was heard Amber poked her head through the open door to see Liara sitting at the driving wheel. "Oh, err erm hey."

The drive back to Liara's house was over three quarters of an hour, for the entire duration of the ride Ambers hands remained stuck on her lap or in Aurora's hand, she was scared to touch anything in case she broke it, Her family was pushed for money as it was and they could certainly not afford to fix anything on a car as expensive as the one she was currently riding in. It was not till they came within a few km of their home that this stance changed, as Amber spotted the neighbor hood famed for it's incredibly rich and powerful occupants approach she shuffled over to a window seat and looked down onto the planets surface, she could hardly believe it when Liara started to land at one of the largest buildings on the furthest out skirt of this zone, at the back of their home there was three large vessels parked, one was far larger than the other two but all three had a distinctly recognisable shape from above. Below the SR-2, 3 and 4 were all parked out the back of Liara's house, their full glory was out for all to see but it looked like directly below them three hangers were waiting to cocoon the ships at any moment. On the other side of the house there was some figure with what looked like a stick aimed at some objects, Amber could not fully make out what or who it was even when a cloud of smoke left the barrel of Reginalds new toy. To the other side of the house was another large field however it was occupied at the far end with a small forest and the ground looked more uneven than the side with the three vessels. In front of the house there was a large water fountain and drive way. When Liara parked the car on their driveway Amber had to remember to breath, she had no idea just how rich and possibly powerful her friend was. The second Liara opened the door there was an extremely loud bang fill the air which caused Amber to jump in her seat, Aurora seeing her jump spoke up. "Don't worry, just my dad doing what he does best, he will probably have ear muffs on so hasn't heard us land."

Amber took little confidence in this statement, from the looks of things her parents may do something to well for her liking. Once Liara made sure that the car she just drove was shut down she turned around to her daughter "Do you want to show your friend to her room and then around the house before you tell Reginald we are back?"

Aurora was not sure why Liara suggested doing those action in that order but just accepted it. "Sure." With Aurora's response Liara stepped out of the car followed closely behind by her daughter. Amber could barely contain her gasp as she walked through the front door of her mysterious friend's home and came face to face with a pure white marble floor, real crystal chandelier and two red carpeted stairs winding their way up the three floors. "Wow." was soon exclaimed by the girl as she took in the sight

Aurora turned to her friend as she made her way up the stairs. "That was my words when I first saw it 30 years back."

The Asari failed to close her mouth as she looked around the room, after a small time she starts to follow Aurora up the long winding stairs, once they reached level 3 Aurora then led Amber through the house and to her own room, upon entering the bedroom the girls mouth drops yet again. "That has to be king sized."

"Yep, has a real feather stuffed mattress and quilt too, soft isn't the word." Amber dropped her bags in a small corner of the room before looking around some more. After checking out the bathroom the girl is forced to speak again as she started to question if her eyes were fooling her. "I have my own jacuzzi?"

"It can be a bath or jacuzzi, your choice."

"If this is just the bedroom I think I need to see the rest of your house."

/.../

The last room Aurora took Amber to visit was Reginald's own retreat, upon opening the door only one thing stood out to anybody who looked in, the walls were decorated with weapons from all ages and civilizations, however one period of weapons stood out the most, late 20th and early 21st century firearms, Aurora once asked why he preferred these weapons but the man didn't really seam to know himself. The second thing that stood out was a distinct smell, something Amber had never smelt before and something Aurora had never smelt until 6 weeks back, Gunpowder. "Before we go in I'll say this, don't touch anything. Everything in here has the capacity to kill and all weapons should have empty barrels and safeties latched on but there is always the chance my dad may have forgotten one weapon out of his hundreds."

Amber held her thumb up, a human gesture she had gained from her own father. "Don't need to tell me twice."

With Amber's response the two girls proceeded into the garage like room, after failing to find her father Aurora opened the outer door that connected the room to the outside and proceeded to Reginald's custom built firing range, as she got closer there was yet another boom from the barrel of the old Baker and a puff of smoke splutter into the air. With the aid of the boom Aurora quickly located her father on the range. "Father." Reginald failed to hear her with his ear muffs on and continued to reload the barrel of his new toy after making a few tweaks to the sights of the weapon. "Father." This time Aurora spoke just loud enough for the man to hear her.

As the man turned around after placing the riffle on a nearby table Aurora approach the him and pulled him into an embrace, she took her mothers words about attempting to house break the man quite seriously. Reginald had half gotten use to this position but it still felt awkward for him. "Evening." After what seemed like a life time to the man his daughter ended the brace giving Reginald the chance to address Amber. "Have you been shown to your room?"

Amber replied immediately with the best English she knew. "Yes, yourselves need not put me in good room. Thank you."

"Amber, it is not a problem."

With a roll of her eyes Aurora is the next to speak. "Anyhow mother just asked me to tell you that food is in an hour. Also hows your gun?"

Reginald picks the weapon back up and passes it to his daughter. "It has a small crack in barrel causing some aiming problems but other than that ancient."

After inspecting the weapon with care considering she just saw the man load the gunpowder satchel the girl speaks. "But is it working?"

"Try it out, see for your self." With those words Aurora looked back up to her father.

"Is it safe?"

"Debatable, just when you fire you have to pull this primer back and then pull the trigger, also when you aim it's shooting to the left by about 3 inches." Amber sat back and allowed the two of them discuss the riffle, she had no deep understanding to what was being said with thanks to her poor English.

Meanwhile Aurora give a coy look to her fathers last comment "Inches?"

"Erm just say nearly 8 cm to the left then, Inches is an old human measurement."

/.../

Before dinner was served Aurora took amber back to her room in order freshen up as Liara had planned a special night out, however as soon as Amber was alone in her room after Aurora left for her room she phoned her mother. After just one cycle of dial tones Sung answered. "Hello love."

"Hey Mom."

"So, how is every thing going?"

"Fantastic! Mother you have to see this place, it makes our home look like a card board box, do you have enough bandwidth to receive a video feed or not?"

"Yes and I'm glad you are having a good time." Amber pulled up her omni tools options to activate the camera, after giving her mother a quick tour around just the bedroom she spoke once more. "It's certainly something. Are they treating you well though?"

Amber was quick to respond. "Yes, in fact Liara and Reginald are taking us too a wild life reserve later."

Despite being happy that Liara and her family had taken Amber in as one of their own for the week Sung nearly panicked at the idea of Amber visiting a wild life reserve. "Do you have enough money for admission?"

"They aren't letting me buy anything, I offered them some money for my food but they denied, for my lift, room, water. They denied it all, I generally do not think money is a problem for these people."

"Amber, Just don't let their wealth effect your head and remember you fell in love with Aurora before you found out about her wealth."

/.../

After refreshing up Amber left her room in search for Aurora, as she journey through the house looking for Aurora's room she heard a voice resembling her friends, because of the similarities to her lovers voice she follows it through the house until she comes across yet another room, however as she got closer she realised she followed the wrong as she perceived the slight differences between Liara's and Aurora's voice. "Renim, were going to the wild life reserve tonight so you can have the night off."

It was a couple of seconds before Place replied. "Thanks, if you don't mind I'll go and meet Jenny tonight then."

Liara replied nearly instantly. "No problem, will you be coming back tonight at all or not?"

"When does my shift start tomorrow?"

"11 am, your'e just doing some house work while I am out working and then picking Amber and Aurora up at the usual time and place."

"I'll stay at Jenny's tonight then."

"Okay, I'll see you at approximately six tomorrow oh and Reginald will be in all day but will probably be training in the fields out back while Lee will be doing something on one of the Normandy's" Amber realising she was hearing something that she should probably not be made a silent retreat to her room and once more attempted to find Aurora's room. After wandering the seemingly endless corridors she eventually comes to a door she was positive was the doorway Auroras bedroom, after knocking twice Aurora shouted for her to come in. As Amber opened the door she came across Aurora who was attempting to pull some socks onto wet feet. Feeling slightly brave Amber spoke first. "Renim isn't your sister is she?"

Aurora held her breath as she looked up to face Amber. After a long time hesitating over what to say she eventually responded. "She is like my sister."

"But she isn't though."

Aurora let her breath go before taking in a deep breath. "If I told you she was actually my body guard hired by my mother what would you say?"

This response resulted in Amber taking a deep breath of her own. "That it makes you and your family that slight touch more mysterious."

"How did you realise?"

"In your family photo's it was always of just you and your mother and only the most recent have had your father in them. Also I overheard your mother talking to her about shifts."

"Very well, just please don't tell Anim, Hars or the others at college her true link to myself for obvious reasons."

"Okay, but why do you need her?"

Aurora racked her brain for ideas on what she could tell her lover, something true but would not reveal the whole truth such as Liara's job requiring herself to have a constant body guard. "Has your dad told you who Reginald really is? What his profession is?" There was a silent nod released from Amber. "Ok then, well to say he has pissed of more than his fair share of people is a bit of an understatement and since he can't protect me all of my life my mother hired Renim who was actually a Commando 40 years back. However I do not lie when I say she is like my sister, we often share stories, compare clothes watch films together and all the other normal things sisters do. She only becomes the body guard if something happens when we are out and occasionally she can be assigned some cleaning or something my mother doesn't have the time for."

"Have you ever required her skills?"

This question causes aurora to think back to her earlier child hood. "Twice. I'll tell you more about the two instances tonight but I think its about time we get moving."

/.../

Later that night after the wild life tour Reginald was laying in bed with Liara pinning him down by resting her head on top of his chest. "So how is your new weapon?" Liara did not really care about the gun just wanted to make contact with the man and break the silence.

"In working condition, I am amazed that people once was able to fight a war with a weapon as primitive as that rifle. So how was your own day?" Liara smiled at the last part of the man's reply, she was slowly changing his solitary ways.

"Busy, I feel like I haven't sat down all day. So what has been on your mind all day?" Liara had noticed her human had seemed distracted but had not had the chance to say anything

"What happens when we destroy Titan. What will they send in it's place? A fleet or something worse?."

Liara was silent as she thought about this question, after a long silence she spoke. "I don't know."

Reginald starts to rub her back in a circular motion as he ponders on this thought. "And who is calling all the shots? Is it a Queen Reaper, some weird citidel child like thing Shepard described, another biological life form or is there a collective mind between them like the geth? I also fear we will have to one day take this war to other galaxies, sterilise the reapers as they do organics."

Liara releases a large sigh as she realises her human is not likely to get any sleep in this condition. "Can I meld with you to think about this as one together?"

Reginald looked down to his partner. "You need not ask any more."

* * *

Thanks for reading.


	7. Sinister plans

Start

Perform Bios check

All primary systems functioning, current time 1014562143, location 23212:38:1923

Check secondary flash memory

Flash memory working to desired performances.

Source explanation for unscheduled primary program initiation.

Records indicate sleeper agent 43324A224 has failed to file report.

Read last data files recorded.

Priority one target location – Known, condition – Alive. Sleeper soon after terminated.

Activate sleeper team 23523CV921X. Priority one task – Live capture of priority one target, initiate indoctrination protocols once complete.

End.

/.../

3 and a bit months later. Titans current time till arrival, 9 months 13 days 23 hours 51 seconds.

In his sleep Reginald unwillingly thought back to the time where the Council meet him face to face and when he was assigned his first task. "Your chosen designation?"

"Reginald." He did not know why Reginald but it was the first thing that came to mind when he was told he had to drop his previous name.

The four councillors give each other a small glance before saying anything else "Do you wish for this to be your full name from here forth?"

"Yes."

"We will confirm this choice after our meeting, now medical has indicated you have next to no biotics', is this true?"

"Yes, I prefer the use of tactics and weaponry over simple biotics, it has proved sufficient so far."

"But surely you must have struggled when we dropped you on Kasim."

"You allowed each potential candidate to take three items, I chose a knife, water bottle and portable combustion piston, this proved to be more than ample for survival."

"Well, you will have to show us how you survived, after all you are the first non biotic that has returned from the planet however right now we need to move on and discuss how we progress from this day forth."

"Very well."

"As you know we train by learning on the go, we give you an initial one day tour of how to use our systems and then allow you to chase down somebody of your own choice for the practice, some of our agents pick big names in an attempt to make a name for them selves within the council but I don't think you are going to do that are you?"

This was the moment that Reginald had been waiting for since he was 8 "No, I have three people from the same gang in mind."

"Let me guess, three Batarian scavengers? I have read your file multiple times."

"Yes." There was no hesitation in his voice when he replied, he had thought about this moment for a large majority of his life.

"Perfect, we actually prefer this type of initial task, you know who you are after but we have no names to supply you with. You will need to utilise all of our systems and potentially perform interrogations, which according to the Alliance you have mastered."

"When can I start?"

/.../

Liara woke up with an overwhelming urge, jumping onto her feet and waking Reginald at the same time she makes her way into the toilet, falls to her knees and allows her stomach to eject the contents, Reginald hearing the retching stands up, approaches the Asari and rubs her back as the content flows, after a long time period Liara's stomach could offer no more, Reginald noticing its lack of content gently pulls her onto her feet and looks her in the eyes. "Are you aright?"

Liara nodded her head as she rubbed her sore abdomen. "Better than I was." Reginald helps his Asari back down onto the bed before leaving the room, getting downstairs he turns the kettle on and finds a hot-water bottle. As he waited for the kettle to boil the water he also grabbed a random whisky bottle from his growing collection.

As the man started to pour the drink into a shot glass a voice originating from behind causes him to freeze. "Mom won't approve."

Reginald turns around to his daughter. "She won't find out, now what has you up at this time?" as he talked he finished pouring the shot, when he finished saying what he had to say he downed the shot.

Aurora approached and opened the fridge, taking the milk she responds as she too pours a glass. "When mother pukes in the morning the entire town is awoken." Reginald nods his head, Liara certainly couldn't do the act quietly.

"This is the fifth day right?" Aurora nodded as she placed the milk back in the fridge. "I'll phone Rumra in a min then, see what she makes of this." At hearing the latch of the smart alloy switch on the kettle flick Reginald turns around and picks the kettle up. After pouring the water into the bottle he returned to the bedroom and placed it gently on Liara's tender stomach. After placing the bottle down on her stomach he left for Liara's computers.

"AI, pull up Dune's file." The computer did as requested. Reginald scrolled down the screen once her files appeared and found her shifts, he was happy to find she was currently awake but not happy about why she was awake, right now she was working night shifts for the extra cash. "AI, give her a ring."

The doctor answered almost immediately "Liara?"

Reginald was quick to respond to the doctor. "Not quite, Are you free?"

"Yes, just doing the paperwork, so, what has you up at this time? Must be serious, is it?"

Reginald sits back in his chair, "Liara and I don't know, she has been vomiting for the past few days, mostly around this time or when she wakes up."

"Is she in any immediate danger? Is she overly hot or under normal temperature? does her vomit contain blood?"

Reginald could not remember seeing blood or Liara's skin being hot or cold to the touch. "Negative, just throwing up, she is eating normally but as I say she just can't keep it down over the night."

Rumra hummed and hawed over the line. "I finish my shift in an hours time, I'll come over afterwards."

"You know your more of a family member than a friend, I'm sure Liara could find you a much shorter shift job with a higher pay check or just pay your retirement funds now."

Rumra sighs down the line. "I've told you both before, I want to gain my money through different means, I don't want to be reliant on friends or family."

Reginald shakes his head. "Ok doctor, I'll see you soon."

/.../

As soon as Aurora opened the door to Rumra Liara's groans could be heard as she yet again had her head down the bowl. "Hello doctor."

Rumra quickly entered the house. "Hey, Is that your mother?"

Aurora nodded her head. "This is quite quiet for her, she has been like this every morning for the past five days, it just doesn't stop till mid-day."

Rumra turned from the child and followed the groans, getting to the master bedroom she knocks twice, only to hear Reginald shout for her to enter.

As Rumra entered the room a strong scent of vomit overcomes her however she fights through the smell, drops her bag onto the floor and enters the bathroom where Reginald was rubbing the Asari's back as she yet again emptied her stomach contents, by now it was just excess stomach alkilines. The first thing Rumra checked when Liara settled back down was her inner core temperature, it came back normal, the next her blood, it came back inconclusive. After a while of silent thinking the doctor spoke. "Liara, when does your mating season start?"

Liara shook her head as she cradled the hot water bottle to her stomach. "3 weeks time."

Rumra nodded her head. "Have you melded within 3 months before this started."

Liara nodded her head also. "Yes. Dune, I'm telling you its one hell of a resistant stomach bug."

"Hmm, have you eaten any fish from earth recently or Turian Quilish?"

"Yes, Haddock. Why?"

Dune smiled slightly as she pulled a small device out of her bag. "Some Earth fishd such as Haddock are known for changing our hormonal balances for a small time period, pull your shirt up." Liara did as commanded and Rumra placed the small device on her stomach, after 30 seconds the device beeped twice and Rumra lifted it to reading distance in order to read it's display. As Rumra placed the device down after reading the device Liara was not sure if there was a suppressed smile on her face or a comical expression "Hmm, it appears you two have been busy."

The first Asari pulls the water bottle back to her stomach after the device was removed then readdresses Rumra's last comment. "What?"

Rumra stretched her hand forward and gently patted the water bottle covering her stomach. Liara still did not understand and her facial expression told the doctor enough to force her to speak. "Congratulations."

Liara's mouth dropped wide open and a hand soon covered it, mean while Reginald was still as dumb struck on her condition as earlier. "Ok, so what's going on?"

"She is suffering from severe morning sickness, over the counter treatment has been around for hundreds of years." Reginald scratched his head, he didn't know such a thing existed.

"So what? she just vomits in the early hours?" He really had no idea of what was going on.

Dune and Liara look at each other before Dune speaks again. "I believe you can handle this. Oh and Liara." after speaking her name the doctor held two fingers up and twiddled them with a smile, this resulted in Liara collapsing back down onto the bed and cradling the hot water bottle even more.

After the doctor left Reginald laid down by his Asari's side. "So what is going on?"

Rotating to face her human Liara spoke. "Reginald, my mating season must of started early, I'm sorry I never knew."

This small statement allows the man to finally understand the situation, Liara didn't know what reaction to expect from the man, her first daughter was a result from rescuing him from the Reaper indoctrination attempt but this was just a silly mistake on her own behalf, she should of known that not all Earth foods are compatible with her body. However his response was something she was more than happy with. Reginald pulled her into his body and lowered two hands to her stomach. "So what now?"

As Reginald's hands covered the water bottle Liara placed her hands on top of his own. "I start to prepare for their arrival, you choose if you want to help or flee."

The man was a little taken back by her comment. "Liara, did I flee when I found out you were expecting Aurora? Another will not cause me to flee."

Liara removed her hands off Reginalds and pulls them around his neck. "Thank you and its twins."

"Double the trouble then, so how long will this entire thing take?"

Liara was ecstatic at the fact that her man was more than willing to undertake another two children. "16 months." However she is caught short as she yet again needs to bow to her never ending bodily needs.

Reginald shook his head as she once again entered the bathroom, he never knew of stomach alkaline being be replaced so quickly, although all he really knew on this topic was his own stomach acids.

/.../

Aurora was sat waiting for either Rumra or one of her parents to return from the master bedroom, the second Rumra appeared at the top of the stairs she was on her feet and questioning her on her mothers well being. "Is she alright? Is it serious?"

The doctor did not shake or nod her head fearing that Aurora could take it either way. "No, she will be just fine."

This small collection of words give Aurora one of her largest feeling's of relief she ever felt. "So is it a stomach bug?"

Dune sat the child down. "Aurora it's not my place to tell you but I can say that your mother is going to be all right. If anything she will be more than happy to tell you the news." This seemed to satisfy the child. "Any way I've been awake for the past 21 hours, do you mind if I get a dri..." Both of the seated asari look up the stairs as Liara once more empties her guts. "Where is Renim?"

"She is not yet up, why?"

"I was going to get you to order her to retrieve your mother some medication."

Aurora started to pale. "What medication?"

"Just something to stop the sickness."

"Whats the name, I'll wake her up and send her for it."

"I think some ernuophine should work."

Aurora turned to the nearest AI hub on the wall and spoke. "AI, wake Place up, tell her to go to the local chemists and retrieve some ernuophine. Double the pay for the rest of the week and bonus five grand if she gets back in half an hour" This would make Place's pay for the week a very appetising sum if she managed to complete the task in under half the hour.

Before the AI responded it's circular form formed on the wall, over the past few weeks Liara had installed systems in her house to allow the AI to run in her home like it does on the SR-4. "Affirmative."

/.../

Place was lying in bed with her omni tool raised to her head, since Liara got up with her problems Place had too awoken, like Aurora said when Liara had her head down the bowl every bugger in the town including the dead and buried was awoken. On her omni tool a very close and intimate friend was connected and speaking. "So, what are we doing next week-end?"

Place released a deep sigh before making her response vocal. "Nothing, my employer is doing something and I'm on duty."

"Can't you just not show, for me?"

Place chuckled slightly at this. "Not for my boss."

There was a frustrated groan released by the other person down the line. "Who do you work for?"

If Place told her friend and Liara found out she knew her and her friends lives would turn quite ugly to say the least. "Sorry, its in my contract that I would actually have to kill you if you found out, otherwise my boss would who wouldn't be so... kind."

"Why not run away with me and then tell?" Place nearly laughed again as she thought how far she would get, maybe to the local grocery store? So approximately 5 mile.

"If only. I am..." Place becomes aware of the AI's orb forming in her room, putting her tool down but with out ending the call she looks up to the orb.

"Mrs Place, I have received direct orders for you to visit Chern Chemists, retrieve a drug called ernuophine and return. Completion in under half an hour will result in 184.76% pay rise for the remained of this week." After the orb spoke its form collapsed leaving Place alone.

After doing the maths it did not take Place long to work out what her pay check for that week would be. "Jenny, I have to go. Half an hours worth of work is going to increase my bank account by 17 and a bit grand." Instead of ending the call the Asari placed the tool on loud speaker as she frantically started to pull some clothes on.

"Wow. Does your boss have any spare jobs going?"

Place stopped what she was doing as she thought about this question, after a short time she responds. "How many languages can you speak?"

There was an excited reply shot back at Place. "14, including 2 Human languages on top of English."

Place rolled her eyes. She could barely speak her native tongue and English never mid 18 others. "One of my bosses is looking for a linguistic, they are after somebody who can speak my own tounge, English, the main Krogan dialect and Turian."

"Sure, send me an application form. Anybody who is willing to pay 17 grand for half an hours worth of work is some one worth working for."

Place released a deep sigh. "She doesn't work like that. I'll put your name forward and if my boss is interested in you who ever it may be will make first contact."

"So your boss is female?"

Place stopped in her tracks as she realised she just give away the Gender of her boss. "Jenny, forget what I just said. Promise me you will forget it."

"Jeez, what's she going to do? Bury me in a ditch in the middle of nowhere for knowing her gender?"

Before place could say anything in return the AI that had formed on the wall behind her did. "Yes. May I recommend you terminate this line of conversation before you your selves are terminated. The content of this dialogue has not crossed my threshold for informing my master's however it is perilously close." Place knew what this meant, if she did not end the phone call or divert the topic of conversation the AI would inform Liara who would more than likely be furious at the small bit of leaked information or even worse it could inform Reginald.

After placing a hand over the top of the Microphone Place responds. "Thanks for the warning AI." She slowly removes her hand from the input transducer. "Jenny, if you heard that you understand why we can't approach this topic ever again. Now I really have to go and will phone you tonight Okay?"

"Right." Jenny no longer sounded confident in her self, she definitely heard the AI and its words rung in her head.

Place picked her omni tool up and slipped her shoes on. "Ok then. Love you."

/.../

Place got back well within the half hour, as soon as her foot was through the door she got straight onto AI. "OK AI, I'm back, who wants this?" after speaking she bent over as she panted for her breath, she had no idea how long it took her.

"Aurora and Dune are in the Kitchen, I would recommend taking it to the doctor."

The agent approached the kitchen however composed her self before entering, as she walked through the door she looked immediately for her bosses daughter, it did not take her long to see the doctor and Aurora sat at the table with a drink in their hands. After placing the drugs on the table she spoke. "Is this the drug required?"

The doctor took a quick glance. "Yes, these will do thank you Renim." After speaking the doctor stood up and addressed Aurora. "I'll take these up for your mother." However before she did such a task she also filled a glass with water. As Rumra entered the bedroom she found Liara once more clinging the water bottle tightly to her stomach on the bed and Reginald attempting to clean the bathroom. Walking around to Liara's side of the bed she sat down and placed the tablets and drink on the bed side table. "Liara?" Liara looked up from nursing her stomach. "I've had Place retrieve these tablets, they are strong morning sickness tablets with a drowsiness side effect. Take one now and two before you go to bed every night for the next 7 months understood?" Liara nodded her head as she sat up on the bed. "How is your stomach?"

Liara shook her head as she responded. " After all the vomiting I've done it feels although its been shot."

"I'll get Place to get you some pain killer then."

/.../

"Right lets go through the plan one more time." Djvok was talking to his small gang of misfits, each member of his small team were lethal assassins of some sort and each one had their minds corrupt from Titan before it was stranded in the deepest part of space with Reginald and Lee. "Najrick you were half asleep before so you can tell us the plan of action."

"Ok, some kid we think is related to the target attends some college, we plan on Aug the 31st to launch an assault to capture the kid, then with our lords wisdom we know if this Reginald guy knows we have the kid he will come to us." Djvok sends a spanner flying at the Batarian before asking another to do the same task but with more depth.

"Once term time returns to Thrisk college we are going to launch an assault once the bodyguard lands at approximately 1705 hours, Najrick's task is to disable the bodyguard, Jeff is dispatching of anybody else who interferes, Niksh is going to use a nerve paralysing dart on the kid so that there is as little resistance as possible, Djvok is making sure we leave some traces behind and Boson is in the drivers seat. Once we have the kid we are running to the Terminal system which the Alliance and Asari governments are scared to enter and then black mailing this Reginald to come to us, where we have a trap awaiting for him."

Djvok did not throw any items off this assassin instead spoke to Niksh. "So why can't we just try to capture the target on Thessia?"

"His home location is too heavily guarded, his journeys are too irregular and he is often too heavily armed and alert which will result in a fire fight in which we will gain unwanted attention and possibly interference from the authorities. Over all the chance of failure is too high."

"Right, so what does that teach us?"

"That the man is not going down without a fight."

* * *

Thanks for reading.


	8. Chapter 8

Two days later.

Place entered Liara's home library in a half dazed state after waking up, there she found Liara collapsed on a sofa while reading an old object that many no longer cared for or bothered with, as Place slowly journeyed further into the room she suddenly stops in her tracks and turns to Liara. "Can you smell that?"

Liara turns her head from facing the book to look at Place. "No why?"

Place shrugs her shoulders as she proceeds to one of the book shelves. "It must have been nothing, No wait there it is again."

Sitting up Liara takes yet another sniff. "I still can't smell anything."

"It's like a pheromone, for some reason it's strangely relaxing" Place turned back around and approached the book shelf, getting there she picks an old Asari classic up before turning back around. "And there it is again."

Liara placed a hand over her eyes and laid back down. "It's me. I must of conceived earlier than I thought for my body to emit the pheromones now."

"Liara?"

The Asari removed her hand and looked up to face Place. "Yes?"

"Congratulations."

"Thanks, and do me a favour by not telling Aurora, myself and Reginald are planning something special for when we tell her tomorrow. Oh and you can have the next two days off."

Place walks around to a chair near her boss and sits down. "So is this why you have been ill recently?"

Liara sits back up on the chair and massages her eyes as she attempts to regain her ability to focus on objects further than reading distance. "Yes. Although we only found out last time Dune was here."

"Cool, so if you don't mind telling when are you due?"

Liara scratches the back of her neck after placing her own book down. "I don't know any more. It could be anywhere between 14 to 15 months. Dune didn't have the tool required to find out for sure when she was last here. Oh and while its on my mind I have a question about your friend Jenny."

Place's heart nearly stops, not sure as to if she should be getting excited or fearful. "Go on?"

"Can I trust her?"

"I would say you could trust her but she likes to talk so you may need to give her a stern talking to."

Liara stands after Place spoke. "Very well, I'll phone her sometime tonight. Oh and now you have found out I maze well tell you that I want to pay you out of your current contract and replace it with a new one with some slight changes in the duties. So in other words once I do give birth I may need a baby sitter or helper every so often, your pay will be increased proportionally to any increased tasks."

"Sounds good to me." Place was currently happy in her job and the chance to work for Liara for another time period was an incredibly appealing option for her future.

Just before Liara walked out of her library she turned back around to Place. "One last thing before I put something on to mask the pheromones. I haven't got around to reading that book yet so I'm looking forward to a full report telling me if it's worth a read or not."

/.../

After getting back from going on a labours run with Reginald Place hit the bath immediately, Reginald worked her hard, more so than when she was in the commando's. As she allowed her muscles to relax in the water the Omni tool that was placed strategically on the edge of the bath started to rattle and vibrate. Groaning to herself she bends over and answers the call incoming from an excited Jenny. "Hey."

Jenny answered immediately back. "Guess what?"

"My boss called you?"

"YES!" After screeching this down the line she started to laugh hysterically, after a good few minutes she eventually tamed herself enough to speak again. "She wants me to teach some Human the basics of Krogan, Turian and Quarian and then some Asari child Turian and Quarian. Half a grand per hour per lesson ha! Then the best part is she want's me to also join a team on some vessel as a permanent translator that pays 9 grand a week."

Place's heart rate pitched at hearing this. "Jenny, tell me you didn't accept."

"Hell no. I took her hand off." This response caused Place to raise a hand to her forehead and sink further in the bath. "Why, should I have declined?"

"Yes to the last part. You have no idea what you will be going up against, to be honest even our boss' is scared of what that ship is built to battle."

"What ship and what is it built to battle?" Place's fear for Jenny was detected by the girl.

"I can't tell you, but it's not something you want to ever encounter and now thanks to signing up to this contract unless you die you are going to encounter it."

Jenny grumbled to this response. "Ah it will be fine. Anyway why is your... our boss so secretive about everything?."

Place sunk further into the bath. "Jenny you ask to many questions. Something out boss doesn't appreciate."

"Ok, ok. I surrender. I take it you got the same shit grilling I just got when you were first hired then."

"Jenny, if you just got that grilling and you are already asking me things you shouldn't ask how do you think your boss will respond if she finds out? You really need to learn to keep quite about who you now work for."

"Fine fi..." Jenny was cut off by Place.

"Look, this is serious. You really need to keep your tongue tight, our boss is not some one you simply piss off." Place said this with some aggression in her voice however all she wanted was the best for her lover.

"Chilax. So now I suppose we both work for the same person could you tell me what your job is?"

Place sighed as yet again she asked something she shouldn't. "Jenny, all I could feasibly tell you about my job is my shifts and even they can change at a seconds notice."

"How come?"

"Jenny!"

"Ah I'm sorry. But you know what they say about inquisitive human nature."

"You won't be sorry if your head ends off on a golden platter. Anyway moving onto a less deadly line of conversation when do you start?"

"Don't know, just been told to report to some centre off world in two days time for a briefing. Anyway why should I tell you if we need to be all secretive?"

"Because I asked for something that I am allowed to tell you. Have you been told about the rules yet?"

"Some."

"So you know that there is no cameras, no transponders or anything similar. And if you are going to where I think you are going tomorrow don't take anything that could be viewed as a weapon."

"Ok, any other advice? You seem full of it."

"Yes, If you are asked to jump your response should be how high. Also you will be working on a strict need to know basis."

/.../

The next day.

"Goddess, that is cold." Aurora was the first to say anything after the transport vessel landed in Savalbard (North of Norway) and Reginald opened the door to reveal the frozen land mass. Liara half rolled her eyes and stepped out onto the snowy ground below, Aurora followed and Reginald was the last to disembark after he grabbed the heavy bags and equipment that he had brought with him.

"Right, it's about a half mile trek to the skii hire shop and then another half hour on the bike until we reach the destination."

"Which is?"

Reginald looked down to his shivering daughter. "Some spot I found when I came training here 91 years back, it's perfect for what we are here to do."

"Y-y-you came training here? I-its freezing."

"I came during the winter months, this is summer." Aurora's eyes widened at Reginald's comment.

"Thi-is is su-mmer?"

"Near enough. Are you warm enough?" Despite asking Reginald knew his daughter was about to become an ice cube.

"Y-y-yes."

Liara give her daughter a concerned look. "N-No your n-not. I-I'll-I'll go hire a car." It was Reginald's turn to roll his eyes, he told them that they would need three or four layers on however they were all so confident in one layer of modern thermal insulation. Reginald drops his bag and pulls out an extra coat each for the Asari, when they first denied the fact that they would need the extra layers he packed the coats as he knew just what would happen.

/.../

That night after Reginald constructed the camp site and ignited the fire the three of them sat on a large fallen tree trunk looking up to the sky while absorbing the life giving heat the fire radiated. Above them the Aurora Borealis danced the sky as if it was a disco floor and this night it had three observers. "Mother, why am I named after this phenomenon?"

Liara did not initially reply, instead she watched the dancing lights for a short while longer as she thought of a reply for her daughter. "After the defeat at relay 13 I assumed Reginald had perished, so I came to earth in order to knot any loosened ends Reginald had left. One of these ends was a small house in the middle of nowhere on a small island called Jan Mayen (off Eastern coast of Greenland.) I went there expecting something but all I found was a small wooden shack, a bed and a stove. I spent all day searching the area for something out of place, but I found nothing, no credits, no pictures no memories just an empty shell of a house. By the time I came to go home I discovered the cold weather had frozen my fuel lines forcing me to stay the night till the sun warmed my car up. As I was forced to stay in his shack I knew I would nearly freeze to death unless I got some fire wood, so I went out chopping wood, it was as I cut down a tree that I came face to face with these dancing lights, I was mesmerised by lights so much I sat in the snow to watch them but the deciding factor for your name was the blue lights emitted. They were nearly identical to that of our skin, it was when I noticed this similarity between ourselves and the natural world that I decided your name.

After Liara's response the three of them returned to solitary states as they watched the lights flutter in the skies and listen to the crackle of the fire, after another unknown stint of time Liara spoke again. "Can you remember when I was ill last Tuesday?"

Reginald realising where this was going remained silent and allowed his daughter to make the response. "Yeah."

"We haven't been entirely truthful over why I was I'll."

This response caused Aurora to gain a lump in her throat, her mind went wild with random thoughts, most of them residing to why her parent's had brought her here after her illness, her mid was so active to the point when she did reply she forgot to do it in English. "Yes?"

Liara ignored the fact her daughter changed to another language and continued in English. "Well, we have something that we really need to tell you, we thought it was best to keep the news for a special moment such as right now." Liara give one last look to Reginald who nodded his head, with his reassurance Liara continued. "I may of eaten something I probably shouldn't have a small while back but the result of this little mishap is something wonderful. Aurora, you are going to become a sister."

Aurora looked at her mother with wide eyes not sure as to if she heard correctly. "What!?"

"In 16 or less months time you will be the sister to two young Asari." Aurora jumped off her seat and onto her parents, she did it with such force they both fell backwards off the log and onto the snowy ground behind them, she did not know what to say so she simply pulled them both into an embrace and refused to let go.

/.../

The next day before they got up for food Liara decided to go town, have a shower and then grab some food to cook on the camping stove Reginald had taken with him. Aurora deciding that the tent was too cool for her liking when her parent's both got out decided to leave with her mother while Reginald went to find some fire wood.

After the two Asari got showered they stopped at an old grocery store, it had every she required so she grabbed a basket and collected everything she wanted, with Aurora chucking random bits or bobs in the basket when she wasn't looking. When the mother and daughter arrived at the desk an old man in his 80's at least stood from an old wooden chair and rested on the desk. "Hello there."

Liara returned the greeting and placed the different foods on the counter. As the man pushed the items over the terminals he spoke again. "So, we rarely get Asari on these islands, apparently it's too cold for yourselves."

"Yes, it's not our preferred climate." The man nodded his head in agreement to Liara's response.

"So, If you don't mind me asking what has brought you out to this place?"

Liara give Aurora a quick glance. "Just some sight seeing."

"Yeah, we have the..." The man is cut off as a small yelp echo's through the store. "...Sights alright."

Aurora cocks her head slightly at the yelp. "What was that?"

"I sell dogs for the extra cash, probably Bet's pups wanting some more food." As he spoke he pushed the final item over the terminal. "That will be 7.39."

Liara paid with her omni tool while Aurora asked another question. "What's a dog?"

This give the old man a small chuckle. "I take it your not from Earth. Come have a look."

The man took Aurora and Liara to the back of the store, there he showed them into a small room filled with little black and golden fur balls. Aurora nearly jumped ten foot when she first saw them however after a second to assess the situation she slowly bent down and investigated the dogs that were now sniffing at her feet or play fighting with another. However one dog stood out to her the most, it was a small bundle of black fur with some brown down its nose and leg, as she approached the dog's tail started to uncontrollably waggle, the girl thought it was going to drop off when she picked it up. When the dog was firmly in her hands it looked her directly in the face for a short time before attempting to lick her hands, despite the short time period between meeting the dog Aurora was in love with the little bundle of fur in her hands. "Mother, remember that bet you lost?"

Liara rolled her eyes and turned to the shop keeper. "How big do they get?"

"About just above ½ of a meter in height. Then about a meter and a bit long including the tail."

Liara mulled this over for a short while. "How much?"

"50." Liara raised a brow, she did not expect it to be so cheap.

"Done deal." Aurora looked up to her mother in disbelief, she did not expect her to be pushed into the sale so easily, however she wasn't going to say anything.

/.../

Reginald did a double take when his daughter disembarked out of the hire car with the small pup in her hands. "You don't expect me to skew a dog do you?"

There was a shake of a head from Liara. "I was forced to fulfil a bet I lost to Aurora a while back. But I have your precious substance in this bag." As she talked she raised the bag so the man could see it. Dropping the bag on the floor near the fire she took a seat on the log next to Reginald before giving another curious look at the furball in Aurora's hands. "So do you know anything off it?"

Before replying Reginald invaded the bag Liara brought to find his bacon. "What species?"

"The store owner said something about German Shepard."

Reginald looked up at this. "I'm not an expert but I'm sure they were used in some previous wars." Liara cocked her head at this reply. "So they are probably loyal animals."

This comment made Liara sigh. "Are they vicious then?"

"I don't think so. Ever heard of the saying man's best friend?" Liara shook her head. "Ah well. But yeah they should be friendly if you train it right." He took another look over to the dog in Aurora's hands. "You do realise it's going to be the most playful thing you can imagine over the next year right?"

Aurora looked up from scratching the dog's belly. "Yes."

"You're going to have to walk it every day, play with it and feed it."

Aurora nodded her head again. "Yes."

Reginald raised a brow ever so slightly as he started to put the bacon on the stove. "Well, it should help teach responsibility if nothing else, what are you going to call it?"

Aurora looked up from the dog. "Give it a name?"

"Yeah, it needs a name."

Liara rolled her eyes. "In Asari culture we try not to name animals like humans do, but considering this is a Earth animal I think we can compromise."

"Any suggestions then?"

"The names up to you kiddo and just another thing, It's a pup, don't want to keep it out in this climate for long."

/.../

After the breakfast the three humanoids packed up their gear and headed back to Thessia much to Aurora's pleasure, despite only staying on the icy island for no more than 32 hours it was long enough for her. When they landed at Liara's Aurora jumped out of the skycar with her new pet in close pursuit, the second the dog was out of the car it cocked it's leg and to Aurora's horror blessed one of Liara's most expensive skycars. Aurora decided to stay quiet on the matter and quickly picked the dog up and ran inside of the house. However Reginald noticed the strange wet patch on the car. "Pittiling bloody Pete."

"What?" Liara asked as she disembarked the car.

"The dog's christened your car."

Liara came to Reginalds side of the vehicle and inspected the wet patch. "It will evaporate. And has she named the dog Pete?"

Reginald shook his head. "Hell if I know. I'm sorry to say it but you Asari seem to take your time over naming matters far more than us humans. If it was upto me it would be called..." Reginald is interrupted as a shriek is heard come from within Liara's home. "I take it Renim has met the latest."

Liara looked up to her front door. "I concur."

/.../

Monday 31st Aug, time 1704 hours.

Aurora left her college building when Place's car had landed, she walked hand in hand with Amber out of the building as they planned to have an evening out at the local entertainment centre, however as she turned to look at her lover before walking down the stairs to Place's awaiting vehicle she felt a tiny pin prick in her neck, raising a hand out of reflex to her neck she feels a small dart protruding from her neck. Her mind races as she thinks of what to do, the only thing that she could think too do was jump in place's car and hope she could race away however before she could act Place's car burst into flames, a Turian came from nowhere and hit Amber over the head with the butt of his gun causing the girl to collapse onto the floor and some other Turian had picked herself up and carried her over his shoulders. Realising what was going on Aurora tried to reach her Omni tool and activate a distress beacon however her limbs failed her, she lost all control over them. Soon her breathing also came trouble some, just as they dumped her into the back of some sky car she passed out.

* * *

Thanks for reading.


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